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FIRST LESSONS 



IN 



UNITED STATES HISTORY 



j:M^ 




GENERAL WASHINGTON. 



FIRST LESSONS 



IN 



UKITED STATES HISTORY 



BY 



EDWARD CHANNING 

PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
AUTHOR OF "a STUDENTS' HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES," ETC. 



ILLUSTRATED 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd 
1903 

All rights reserved 



THE L.ERARY OF 
CONbRESS, 

Two Copies Received 

JUN 2 '903 

n Copyiignt Entry 

cflASS CL XXc. No 

L C> <^ 
COPY B, 



:. No. 

u 






Copyright, 1903, 
By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up, electrotyped, and published May, 1903. 



Nnrtoootf ipreas 

J. S. Gushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 

Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



I. The Oldest Americans . 

II. The Great Discoverers . 

III. The Spaniards on the Mainland of the Un 

States 

IV. Cartier and Drake . 
V. Virginia and her Neighbors . 

VI. The Founding of New England 

VII. The Middle Colonies 

VIII. The French and Indian Wars 

IX. Benjamin Franklin . 

X. George Washington . 

XI. The Last French and Indian AVar 

XII. The Colonists and the British Government 

XIII. The British attack the Colonists 

XIV. Bunker Hill and Independence . 
XV. Valley Forge and the French Alliance . 

XVI. Southern Campaigns 

XVII. The Constitution 

XVIII. Daniel Boone and George Rogers Clark . 

~-,XIX. The Settleaient of the Old Northwest . 

XX. President Jefferson 

XXI. Wars on Land and Sea 

V 



1 
5 

14 

21 

27 

41 

55 

63 

67 

75 

79 

84 

91 

97 

107 

113 

120 

123 

132 

136 

141 



VI TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XXII. Andrew Jackson 149 

XXIII. Andrew Jackson, the " Hero of New Orleans " . 15.5 

XXIV. Engines of Progress 160 

XXV. The Early Contest over Slavery .... 168 

XXVI. John Quincy Adams 171 

XXVII. General Grant's Early Days 175 

XXVIII. Abraham Lincoln 181 

XXIX. The Rush to California 187 

XXX. Lincoln and Douglas 191 

XXXI. Secession 195 

XXXII. A Few Things about the Civil War . . . 201 

XXXIII. Admiral Farragut 209 

XXXIV. The Army of the Potomac 215 

XXXV. General Grant 219 

XXXVI. General Sherman 222 

XXXVII. General Sheridan 227 

XXXV IIL After the War 232 

XXXIX. The Age of Electricity 235 

XL. The Spanish War 243 

Index 255 



FIRST LESSONS 



IN 



UNITED STATES HISTORY 



FIRST LESSONS IN UNITED STATES 

HISTORY 



THE OLDEST AMERICANS 

1. The Ice Ages. — North America is a very old conti- 
nent; it may be older than Europe or Africa, or even 
Asia. Thousands of years ago a great ice sheet came 
down over the land from the Arctic regions and spread 
southward as far as Southern New England, New Jersey, 
and Ohio. After a time it slowly retreated to the 
North again. Along its southern edge the ice sheet 
piled up steep rounded hills of gravel and large rounded 
rocks or bowlders. All this happened a very long time 
ago. Indeed, it may have happened more than once, 
as there are two distinct sets of these remains of the 
Ice Ages. 

2. Men of the Ice Ages. — Long ago as all this took 
place, men, women, and children were then living in 

B 1 



THE OLDEST AMERICANS 



North America. We know that' they were living here 
in those days because deep down in these hills made by 
the ice sheets, stone axes and hammers and stone arrow- 
heads have been found. As there were two Ice Ages, 
so there were two sets of people using stone tools and 
weapons. We know that this is so because many of 
these stone implements are more carefully made than 
the others. These were the earliest inhabitants of North 
America. Among their descendants were the natives 
found by the Northmen and by Columbus. 

3. Stone Tools. — The people of the Stone 
Ages made rude hammers and axes of 
stone by striking one piece of stone against 
another. One of these stone tools is shown 
on this page. It was found twelve feet 
below the surface of the ground and be- 
neath a large bowlder ; just where the ice 
sheet had left it thousands of years before. 
After a time the descendants of the people 
of the Ice Ages learned how to fasten a 
bit of sharp stone to the end of a stick. In this way 
they made stone hatchets or tomahawks like the one 
which the Indian on the next page is holding in his 
hand ; for the Red Men of North America used stone 
tools and stone weapons, as arrowheads, at the coming 
of the whites. 




QUESTIONS 3 

• DO NOT FORGET 

1. Thousands of years ago ice covered the land that is now 
the northern part of the United States. 

2. Men and women lived in these Ice Ages. 

QUESTIONS 

1. How far southward did the ice sheet extend ? 

2. What marked its southern edge ? 

3. How do we know that people lived within the present limits 
of the United States in the Ice Ages ? 

4. Who were their descendants ? 





liongitude 9o' 



The Greatest Voyages. 

Columbus thought that the island of Japan was where Mexico really is. Bearing this 
in mind, it is easy to see why he thought Cuba must be an Asiatic land. 



II 

THE GREAT DISCOVERERS 

4. The Northmen. — About nine hundred years ago a 
little missionary ship slowly sailed across the stormy 
North Atlantic. Her captain was Leif ' the Lucky, son 
of Eric the Red, Greenland's earliest settler. Leif's 
father called him " the Lucky " because he saved from 
drowning the crew of a shipwrecked vessel, — among the 
Northmen that was held to be a very fortunate thing 
to do. Now Eric^ the Red had gone to Greenland 
before the Northmen became Christians. Olaf, king 
of the Northmen, and Leif, who was visiting at hi-> 
court, were Christians. They thought it was a pity to 
leave the Greenlanders longer in ignorance of the 
Christian religion. So Leif, with a few missionaries,, 
sailed from Norway to Greenland. This voyage was 
made in the summer of the year 1000. 

5. Leif finds Wineland the Good. — Leif's vessel was very 
small. He knew little of the way, and the North 
Atlantic was stormy and frequently covered with fogs 
and mists. He wandered far out of his course and came 
to a new land. He found grapes growing wild there, 

^ These names are pronounced life and erik. 
5 



6 THE GREAT DISCOVERERS 

and he called the country Wineland the Good, because 
wine is made from grapes. Sailing northward, he 
reached Greenland in safety and spent the winter with 
his father. Wineland was a part of North America. 
Leif Ericsson was the discoverer of the New World, but 
Columbus made it known to Europeans of a later time. 
6. Boyhood of Columbus. — Christopher Columbus was 
born at Genoa, a busy seaport on the Mediterranean Sea. 
When Columbus was a boy, its harbor M^as filled with 
ships from all parts of the known world. As he walked 
around the wharves and climbed over the vessels, he 
must have listened with delight to stories of strange ad- 
ventures in distant seas and far-off lands. When he was 
fourteen years old, Columbus himself went to sea. After 
making many voyages and overcoming many perils, he 
settled at Lisbon in Portugal. 

7. Columbus's Plan. — Columbus made up his mind that 
it would be easy to sail across the Atlantic to Japan, 
China, and the Indies. Men of learning were sure that 
the earth was round. None of them had ever proposed 
to go on board ship and sail boldly westward; but this 
was precisely what Columbus proposed to do. He 
thought, as they did, that the earth was round ; he set 
out to prove that he was right by sailing around it. If 
his ideas should prove to be false, he and his men would 
sail off the edge of the earth and disappear. 



COLUMBUS AND THE SPANISH MONARCHS 7 

8. Columbus and the Kings of Portugal and England. — Colum- 
bus was poor. He could not buy a ship, fill her with food, 
and hire men to tend tlie helm and w^ork the sails. Be- 
sides, he needed letters of introduction to the ruler of 
Japan and the Emperor of China ; for if these monarchs 
should find him in their lands without these protect- 
ing letters, they might shut him up in a dungeon or cut 
off his head. He first asked the king of Portugal to 
provide the ships and food and sailors and letters of 
protection. He asked so high a price for his services, 
however, that the king of Portugal declined his offer. 
He then sent his brother to England ; but the English 
would do nothing. Finally Columbus left Portugal 
and sought out Ferdinand and Isabella, king and qu'^^n 
of Spain. 

9. Columbus and the Spanish Monarchs. — Ferdinand and 
Isabella listened to all that Columbus had to say, although 
they thought that he was more than half crazy ; but they 
would not give him any money. When all chance of 
moving them seemed to be gone, Columbus happened to 
mention his plan to the head of the convent of La Rabida. 
Now this churchman had a great deal of influence with 
Isabella. He thought that the plan would be worth try- 
ing. The expedition would not cost much and might 
turn out to be very important. So he told Isabella that 
she would better do what Columbus asked. 



8 



THE GREAT DISCOVERERS 



10. The Great Voyage, 1492. — Columbus sailed first to the 
Canary Islands, which lie off the coast of Africa. He 
then steered due west for Japan. Day after day gentle 
breezes blew the discoverers always westward. The 
sailors became frightened ; they feared they could never 
sail home to Spain. Columbus cheered them as well as 

he could. He added, 
however, that their 
fears and complaints 
made little difference. 
He was seeking the 
Indies and should 
sail on until he found 
them. 

11. The Indies, 1492. 
— Although Colum- 
bus had so stout a 
heart, it was well per- 
haps that the next 
morning after this 
declaration a sailor 
picked out of the 
water a branch of a tree with fresh flowers upon it. 
Every one now became more watchful than before. The 
night following the picking up of the flowers was bright 
with the light of the moon. Suddenly, before the dis- 




The Santa Maria. 




Columbus on the Deck of his Flagship. 



The artist who drew this picture had some queer ideas as to the size of 
Cohimbus and of the Santa Maria. 



10 THE GREAT DISCOVERERS 

coverer's eyes the shores of a sandy beach shone in 
the moonlight. When the sun rose — and how impa- 
tiently its rising must have been awaited — the new 
land appeared to be an island covered with green trees. 
Columbus had sailed from Spain in August, 1492. 
He had taken so much time on the way that it was 
now October. 

12. The Indians. — Going ashore, Columbus was greeted 
by the natives. He called them Indians because this 
island was just where he expected to find the first islands 
off the coast of Asia. He felt sure that Ferdinand, and 
Isabella would be glad to see what the people of India 
were like, so he seized some of them and took them with 
him on his voyage. This first island was one of the 
Bahamas. Thence Columbus sailed southwestwardly and 
came to Cuba. 

13. Cubans, Tobacco, and Hammocks. — Columbus understood 
the Cubans to say that their Khan, or King, was not far 
off in his capital city. So he sent two of his men to him 
with his letters of introduction from the Spanish mon- 
archs. After a time the messengers returned. They 
had not found any kings or any cities, but they had 
seen two interesting things. The first of these was a 
swinging bed made of rope which the Indians called 
hammock. The second was a stick made of twisted 
leaves. The Indians set fire to one end of this roll of 



THE EARLY YEARS OF JOHN CABOT 11 

leaves ; the other end they placed in their mouths and 
sucked smoke out of it. This extraordinary thing they 
called "taback." 

14. Shipwreck on Christmas Eve. — Still sailing onward, 
Coliunbus approached San Domingo. It was the night 
before Christmas ; there was no wind, and the steersman 
of the flagship was sleepy, so he gave the tiller to a boy 
and went to sleep. Suddenly the ship's keel grated on a 
sandbank. Columbus rushed on deck. He called his 
men. He ordered the masts to be cut away and the guns 
to be thrown overboard. All his efforts were in vain. 
The next day the ship went to pieces. And this was the 
way that Columbus passed his first Christmas in the 
Indies. With the other two vessels he returned to 
Spain and made known to Europeans that across the 
Atlantic, and not too far away, there were lands full 
of riches and of interest. 

15. The Early Years of John Cabot. — Like Columbus, John 
Cabot was born in Genoa ; but he was living in Bristol, 
England, when he set forth on his great voyage. He 
sailed in 1497 westward from Ireland for China and 
found Cape Breton Island. No Indians came to the 
water side to greet him as they had swarmed to wel- 
come Columbus. But Cabot found tools for making a 
fish net, and a tree which had been cut with a sharp 
instrument. He felt sure, therefore, that people lived 



12 THE GREAT DISCOVERERS 

in the newly discovered land, although he did not see 
any of them. The next year he sailed once more from 
Bristol for the Indies and was never heard from again. 

16. Americus Vespucius. — Another famous Italian to sail 
from Spain to the Indies was Americus Vespucius. 
Columbus and Cabot had sailed the seas for years before 
they made their great voyages. Americus Vespucius was 
a landsman for the first fifty years of his life. When he 
did go to sea he suddenly became well known. This was 
because he wrote lively and interesting accounts of his 
voyages. These were printed again and again in many 
languages and read by many people. 

17. The Name America. — Among the men who read the 
books of Americus Vespucius were the makers of geog- 
raphies. Reading these books, they came to know a great 
deal more of the doings of Americus Vespucius than they 
did of Columbus ; they probably had never heard of John 
Cabot. In this way the New World came to be called 
America and not Columbia. For a long time, however, 
men continued to call the islands which Columbus had dis- 
covered by the names which he gave to them. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. Leif Ericsson discovered America, and called it Wineland. 

2. 1492, Columbus discovered the West Indies. 

3. 1497, John Cabot visited North America. 

4. The New World was named America for Americus Vespucius. 



QUESTIONS 



13 



QUESTIONS 

1. In what year did Leif Ericsson discover Wineland ? 

2. Why did Columbns sail on his great voyage ? 

3. Why did he call the natives Indians ? 

4. What land did John Cabot discover ? 

5. Why is the New World called America ? 




Pieces of Old Armor. 

These are a headpiece, breastplate, and backpiece. Wlien the backpiece and 
breastplate were joined totjether they were often called a corselet (kors'lCt). The 
old explorers and the early colonists wore armor like this shown above and on the 
deck of the ship on page 9. 



Ill 



THE SPANIARDS ON THE MAINLAND OF THE 
UNITED STATES 

18. De Soto in Florida. — Soon the Spaniards began com- 
ing to the southern part of the United States. The most 
famous of these early explorers and conquerors were 
De Soto^ and Coronado.^ The first of these had made 
a fortune in Peru. He used most of this money to set 
on foot an expedition to conquer an empire for him- 
self in North America. With a splendidly armed body 
of Spanish soldiers, De Soto marched across Florida and 
Georgia. Thence he proceeded westwardly across Ala- 
bama and Mississippi. The explorers seized the food of 
the natives and compelled them to carry the baggage, — 
including the stolen food. The Indians did not like 
to do this, and tried to escape. So the Spaniards chained 
them together with iron chains which they had brought 
from Spain for the purpose. They hunted with dogs 
any of them who managed to break their chains and run 
away. The Indians, on their part, set fire to the bag- 
gage and killed the invaders whenever they got a chance. 
They would have killed them all had not the Spaniards 

^ Day Soto. ^ Koronado. 

14 



BURIAL OF DE SOTO 15 

been protected by iron armor, or covering, which an arrow 
could not pierce. 

19. The Mississippi River. — De Soto and his comrades 
had come to America to gain gold and silver. Hard- 
ships, hunger, fierce Indians, immense rivers, and great 
plains were what they found. For years they kept 
marching about. The most wonderful thing that they 
saw in all this time was the Mississippi River. It was 
larger than any river they had ever seen or had ever 
heard of. 

20. Burial of De Soto. — Worn out with fatigue and disap- 
pointment because he had found no gold, De Soto died. 
His men buried him by the gate of the Indian town where 
he died. They then rode their horses over the grave to 
conceal it from the natives, for the Indians w^ere afraid of 
De Soto, he was so harsh and cruel. Before long they 
asked where De Soto was, and were told that he had gone 
to heaven on a short visit. Then they pointed to the 
grave. It would never do for them to find the body of 
the dead leader, so one night his men dug it up secretly, 
filled the cloak in which it was wrapped with gravel, took 
it out to the middle of the river, and threw it overboard. 
This they did quietly and without any lights, that the 
Indians might suspect nothing. In the end about one 
half of the original band made their way to the Spanish 
settlements in Mexico, and returned to civilized life. 



16 THE SPANIARDS ON THE MAINLAND 

21. The Seven Cities. — Nowadays, if a traveler should 
return from a far country and report that in that land 
the streets w^ere paved w^ith gold and the electric but- 
tons were made of diamonds, j)eople would not believe 
him. The early Spaniards, however, had found so many 
wonderful things in America that they were willing to 
believe almost anything that might be told them. One 
day, for instance, some travelers appeared in the City of 
Mexico and reported that far to the north were seven 
cities filled with marvels. They said that in these cities 
some of the streets were occupied entirely by workers in 
silver. Moreover, the doorways of the shops and the 
houses were ornamented with precious stones. It seemed 
as if the seeker for riches had only to go to one of these 
cities and fill his pockets with gold and with silver, with 
diamonds and with rubies. 

22. Coronado finds the Pueblos, 1540. — Coronado put on his 
gilded armor and led an expedition to conquer these 
golden cities. When he conquered the first one it turned 
out to be nothing more than an Indian common-house, or 
pueblo,^ built of stone, clay, and mud. When the Span- 
iards came to it, the natives marched out and stationed 
themselves behind a line of meal drawn on the ground. 
Soon they began to shoot arrows and to strike down the 
newcomers. Coronado ordered a charge. The Indians 

1 Pweb'lo. 



CORONADO FINDS THE PUEBLOS, 1540 



17 



ran up the ladders to the house tops and pulled the ladders 
up after them. Once on top of the liouses, they hurled 
great stones at the attackers. One stone knocked down 
Coronado, and would have killed him had his gilded 





iL'iiy . 



»f/|" 







One of the Doohways. 
A ladder or notched pole led to the room beneath. 

armor not broken the force of the blow. The Spaniards 
finally overcame the home defenders. Tliey found no 
gold or silver or diamonds or rubies in the pueblos. 
Rough bits of colored stones ornamented the hatchways ^ 



^ Hatchway : the opening in the deck of a ship which leads to the space 
below. 



18 THE SPANIARDS ON THE MAINLAND 

leading to the rooms, and that was all the truth there 
was in the travelers' tales. 

23. The Pueblos. — The pueblos, or village houses, were 
more than one story high, some of them four or five 
stories, and one, at least, was seven stories high. In- 
stead of being built up straight from the ground, as our 
buildings are, each story stood a little back from the one 
below it, something like a set of steps. The roof of one 
house was the floor of the next house. Ladders led from 
one story to the next, and the whole pueblo was often 
surrounded by a wall. The Pueblo Indians grew large 
crops of corn on the land around the pueblos, and they 
made excellent jars and baskets. Some of the pueblos 
are still lived in, and the Indians living in them, even 
at this time, tell stories of the coming of Coronado. 

24. The Great Plains. — There was no gold or silver in the 

pueblos, that was certain ; 
but an Indian whom the 
Spaniards called the Turk, 
because he looked like one, 
told Coronado of a land 
far to the north where 
gold was plentiful. So 

northward rode the Spaniards to central Kansas or even 
to Nebraska. On the plains they found Indians who lived 
in huts or wigwams made of the skins of buffaloes or 




THE GRAND CANON OF THE COLORADO 



19 



bisons, or wild cows, as the Spaniards called them. There 
were immense herds of these humpbacked, shaggy buffa- 
loes on the plains. At one time the Spaniards disturbed a 
herd. The buffaloes ran 
rapidly away until they 
came to a ravine. Into 
the ravine, head foremost, 
went the leaders in the 
flight. Others came after 
them until the ravine was 
filled. Finally the rear 
guard passed over the ra- 
vine in safety on the 
bodies of their dying com- 
panions. 

25. The Grand Canon' of the 
Colorado. — At one time in 
his expedition Coronado 
sent an exploring party 
westward. Riding along, 
these suddenly came to a 
great chasm in the earth. 

Looking over the edge of the chasm, they saw below them 
what appeared to be a brook or rivulet of water. But 
the Indians told them that what seemed to be a brook 




Grand Canon. 



1 Pronounced kanyon. 



20 THE SPANIARDS ON THE MAINLAND 

was in reality a river half a mile wide. The chasm was 
a mile in depth, — about as deep as Mt. Washington is 
high. It was the Grand Canon of the Colorado. Its 
walls were so steep that the Spaniards could not descend 
to the river. Some of them climbed a little way down to 
a rock, which seemed from the top to be as high as a 
man. When they got to it, however, they found that it 
was as high as the greatest tower of Spain. Nowhere in 
all this country was there any gold or silver. vSo Coronado 
and his companions rode sorrowfully back to Mexico. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. De Soto came to Florida to find gold and silver. He found 
the Mississippi River, and was buried in its stream. 

2. Coronado came to New INIexico to find gold and silver. He 
found pueblos, great plains, and a wonderful chasm. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Why did the Spaniards seek the mainland of North America? 

2. What did they find there ? 

3. What were the Seven Cities ? 

4. Look up the Great Plains in your geography and tell about 
them. 

5. Mention five or more states or territories over which the 
Spaniards marched. 



IV 



CAKTIEK AND DRAKE 

26. Cartier's' Voyage. — Some time before this Magellan 
had found a strait leading through South America to the 
Pacific, which is still 
called by his name. 
One of Magellan's 
vessels had sailed 
around the world, 
reaching Spain 
again by the Cape 
of Good Hope. 
Cartier, a French 
seaman, thought 

that there must be Cartier's Explorations. 

a similar strait 

leading through the northern part of North America. 
In 1535 he sailed up the St. Lawrence River, expecting 
that any hour might bring him to the Pacific Ocean. 
One day he came to a place where the river ran over 
rocks and the water was fresh. Now he knew that the 
St. Lawrence was a river and not a strait. 

^ Cartier (Kya-tya). 
21 




22 



CARTIER AND DRAKE 



(-^P i 




QUEBKC. 

As its first goveruor pictured it. 



27. Quebec. — Although Cartier was greatly disappointed 
in not reaching the Pacific, he saw several interesting 
places. One of these was an island covered with wild 

grape vines. He called it 
the Island of Bacchus from 
the old heathen god of 
wine ; to-day it is called 
the Island of Orleans. It 
was at about this point 
that the Indians told Car- 
tier of some curious folk 
in the interior who had 
only one leg apiece ; but 
he had no time to visit the one-legged people, as he was 
seeking the Pacific Ocean. Just above the Island of 
Bacchus a tremendous cliff suddenly narrowed the water 
way. The Indians called the place Quebec, and so it 
is still named. 

28. Montreal. — The natives near Quebec tried to frighten 
Cartier so that he would not go farther up the river ; 
for they wanted all his beads and hawks' bells for them- 
selves. They dressed up some of their number with 
horns and skins and sent them out to the French ships 
with a terrible noise. But Cartier was not to be fright- 
ened by any horned men. So up the river he voyaged, 
until rocky rapids extending from one bank to the other 



THE INDIANS THINK DRAKE IS A GOD 23 

put an end to all thoughts of a water way to China. 
Hard by was an Indian village. The natives led Cartier 
to the top of a steep, rounded hill. From its summit, 
looking westward, he could see nothing but tree tops — 
there was no sign anywhere of the Pacific. Baffled, he 
returned to Quebec, and the next spring he sailed to 
France. Nearly one hundred years later the Frenchmen 
founded settlements along the St. Lawrence, especially 
at Quebec and Montreal. 

29. The Voyage of the '' Pelican." — The most famous Eng- 
lish seaman of the reign of Queen Elizabeth was Francis 
Drake. In the Pelican — a little vessel which was not 
larger than a two-masted coasting schooner — he sailed 
around the world. Passing through Magellan Strait, he 
voyaged up the western shore of South America. He 
entered the S]3anish harbors and captured the Spanish 
treasure ships until the Pelican was loaded with gold, 
silver, and pearls. He then sailed northward, looking for 
a strait leading eastward through North America. Not 
finding a strait, he tm-ned southward and anchored in a 
harbor on the coast of California. There he cleaned and 
repaired the Pelican and thence sailed to England around 
the Cape of Good Hope. 

30. The Indians think Drake is a God. — The California In- 
dians thought that Drake and his companions were gods. 
One of them soon came out fiom the shore in a canoe 



24 



CARTIER AND DRAKE 



and made a long address to these supposed white gods. 
When the seamen were living on shore, while the Pelican 
was being repaired, the Indians came to them from far 
and near. They brought beautiful headdresses and 
crowns of feathers, belts of wampum, or Indian money, 




The Crowning of Drake. 
From a very old book. 

made from sea shells, bags of tobacco, and bowls of meal 
and fish. On one occasion they placed a crown on 
Drake's head, hung strings of beads around his neck, and 
danced and sang with delight. Drake took possession 
of the country for Queen Elizabeth. He named it New 
Albion because the sea cliffs were white like those of 



EXD OF THE INVINCIBLE ARMADA 25 

England, which is sometimes called Albion. When the 
Pelican returned home, Queen Elizabeth knighted her 
daring commander on his quarter-deck. In this way 
he became Sir Francis Drake. 

31. The Invincible Armada, 1588. — The king of Spain was 
not at all pleased with the doings of Sir Francis Drake 
and Elizabeth's other dashing seamen. He determined to 
send a fleet and an army against England and add that 
kingdom to his other dominions. The Spanish word for 
fleet is armada. This fleet was so great that it seemed 
to the Spaniards as if nothing could conquer it. They 
called it, therefore, the Invincible Armada, or the fleet 
that could not be conquered. 

32. End of the Invincible Armada. — Sir Francis Drake and 
his comrades were not convinced that the Armada could 
not be conquered. At all events they determined to 
try to destroy it. Led by Lord Howard, the Queen's 
cousin, they sailed forth to meet it. The Englishmen 
had better ships and better guns than the Spaniards had, 
and they themselves were better sea fighters than the 
Spaniards were. In the end not one half of the Invincible 
Armada ever returned to Spain ; the rest of the ships 
were captured or destroyed by the English, or were 
wrecked on the shores of the British Isles. After this 
great disaster to Spain's sea power. Englishmen could 
sail the seas more safely and could found colonies beyond 



26 CARTIER AND DRAKE 

the Atlantic without much danger that the Spaniards 
would come and kill all the colonists. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. Magellan discovered Magellan Strait. 

2. Cartier explored the St. Lawrence River. 

3. Drake visited California and sailed around the world. 

4. The defeat of the Armada opened North America to English 
colonists. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Why did Cartier visit North America ? 

2. What people finally settled on the St. Lawrence ? 

3. What name did Drake give to California? 

4. What happened to the Spanish Armada ? Why was this 
important? 



VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBORS 

33. Sir Walter Ralegh. — One day, as the story goes, 
Queen Elizabeth when out walking came to a muddy 
place in the road. Suddenly a young man darted out 
from the crowd around her, snatched the velvet cloak 
from his shoulders, threw it on the mud, and Queen 
Elizabeth walked over without soiling her shoes. The 
young man was Walter Ralegh.^ Elizabeth took him 
into her service, knighted him, and gave him offices and 
lands. Soon he rode at the head of royal processions, 
clad in silver armor. He never visited the shores of 
the United States, but he sent out expeditions to fight 
the Spaniards and to explore Virginia. One of his 
captains carried to England some tobacco and showed 
Ralegh how the Indians smoked it. Ralegh's servant, 
when he first saw his master smoking, was much dis- 
tressed. He thought that Ralegh was on fire, and threw 
a mug of beer into his master's face to put out the blaze. 
Sir Walter Ralegh also sent colonists to North America. 
These settled on Roanoke Island in North Carolina. 

^ llalegh (Raw'Iey). He usually wrote his name as given in the text. 
It was oftentimes written Raleigh, as people were very careless spellers 
in those days. 

27 



VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBORS 



Then they disappeared, and no one knows what became 
of them. All this took place before the destruction of 
the Spanish Armada. 

34. Newport's First Voyage, 1607. — In 1607 Sir Chris- 
topher Newport sailed from England for Chesapeake 
Bay. He was sent out by English merchants who 



'"—^ 




UftLU^llIlUI„Jl>l..<l^. 



^.j.»uiijiiiMi) mmu i ii. .wn.i n^-r^ 



Ships of Nevvpout's Time. 

Perhaps these were his ships. The middle one is the admiral's ship and carries a 
lantern at the stern. 

wished to find a shorter way to India than that around 
the Cape of Good Hope. He had three vessels and 
carried one hundred and twenty-five men, who were to 
explore the country in the hope that the other end of 
Chesapeake Bay led into the Pacific Ocean. They were 
also to seek gold and silver mines. Captain Newport 



NAMING THE PRINCIPAL POINTS 



29 



sailed first to the West Indies and then northward to 
Chesapeake Bay. Not only was the way long, but it 
was terribly hot for those who were shut up in the 
little vessels. The passengers suffered dreadfully ; indeed, 
twenty-five of them died before the fleet finally came 
to anchor. 

35. Naming the Principal Points. — The explorers were 
good Englishmen, and named the princi^oal points for 
members of the royal family. 
Their settlement, for instance, they 
called Jamestown in honor of King 
James ; it stood on the banks of 
the James River, which was also 
named in his honor. The capes 
of the Chesapeake they named for 
his sons Cape Henry and Cape 
Charles. Once, while on an ex- 
pedition, some of the explorers 
found shelter from the wind under 
the northern point of the mouth 
of the James River. For this 
reason they called the protect- 
ing land Point Comfort. Years 
later, another Point Comfort was so named, and this 
first one became Old Point Comfort. A few miles up 
the James River the starving, dying colonists obtained 




30 VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBORS 

the first news of Newport's return with supplies ; they 
called this point Newport News. These names are all 
interesting because Fortress Monroe is at Old Point 
Comfort, and the battle between the Monitor and the 
Merrimac was fought off Newport News. 

36. Newport and Powhatan. — While the sailors and ex- 
plorers were unloading the vessels and building a fort 
at Jamestown, Newport and some of the principal men 
sailed up the James River on an exploring expedition. 
At the Falls of the James, where Richmond now stands, 
they met Powhatan,^ the chief of the James River 
Indians. Newport thought that he must be an em- 
peror or at least a king. For this reason when Newport 
came back from England, on his second voyage, he 
brought with him a tin crown and some old clothes. 
With these he dressed up Powhatan until that Indian 
chief looked very funny and felt very fine. 

37. Poor Situation of Jamestown. — The station at James- 
town was built in a very poor place. Instead of pick- 
ing out an open field, the newcomers built their fort 
on the edge of the forest. The trees sheltered the 
Indians so that they could shoot down any one who 
ventured outside of the fort. The trees also kept the 
sunlight from the soil, so that no grain would grow. 
Plainly the best thing to do would have been to abandon 

1 Powhatan (Pow-hat-tan'). 



SICKNESS AT JAMESTOWN 



31 



Jamestown and settle somewhere else. Instead of doing 
that, the settlers foolishly set to work cutting down 
the trees. This labor was very hard, and before many 
trees were cut down a worse enemy than the Indians 
appeared. 






Wit 




All til\t is lkft of Jamestown. 



38. Fever and Ague. — At a little distance through the 
forest was a great swamp which bred fever and ague. 
This disease was worse tlian the natives, because the 
Indians killed only those who ventured outside of the 
fort. But the fever and ague killed the Englishmen 



32 VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBORS 

inside the fort as well as outside. The newcomers 
brought very little food from England. They could 
plant no corn until the trees were cut down, and they 
soon were too weak from fever to cut down trees or, 
indeed, to do any work. They grew terribly hungry, 
and at one time they dug up the body of a dead Indian 
and feasted on his flesh. What with the hunger, the 
fever, and the hostile Indians, most of the early comers 
died within a few months of their landing. Of the first 
five hundred colonists, not fifty remained in Virginia for 
any length of time. Most of the other four hundred 
and fifty died -in Virginia; but Captain John Smith 
and a few more returned to England. 

39. A Famous Story-teller. — Of all the colonists who came 
to America none told more interesting stories than Captain 
John Smith. According to him all the other leaders were 
fools and knaves. His finest tale of all was about an 
Indian girl or princess, as lie called her. Her name, he 
said, was Pocahontas, and she was Powhatan's darling 
daughter. iVs the tale runs. Captain John Smith went 
out exploring with a party of men. The Indians attacked 
the expedition and killed some of the men. Captain John 
Smith was captured, was taken to Powhatan, and con- 
demned to death. He was laid on the ground with his 
head on a stone. An Indian was about to dash out his 
brains with a huge club when out rushed Pocahontas. 



A FAMOUS STORY-TELLER 



33 



She took Captain John Smith's head in her arms and 
bey-sed his hfe. Powhatan changed his mind and sent 




daii^fU^rYok.-al\oryiSisbegoj-hLs- life his tkanf\A*llne/s ■', 
\anj hirw he Subiecled 3^ o^their hjn^s read^Jr m/7^>ri 



This picture was drawn by an artist from Captain Smith's own description. 

the captain back to Jamestown. In 1609 Captain John 
Smith returned to Endand and never saw Virginia a.^ain. 



34 



VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBORS 



40. John Rolfe. — Of all the early Virginia colonists John 
Rolfe best deserves to be remembered, for he found out 
how tobacco could be grown with profit in Virginia for 
sale in England. He also married Pocahontas, Pow- 
hatan's daughter, about whom Captain John Smith told 




Tobacco Rolling. 



The cask is filled with tobacco, a pole is thrust through it, harness is attached to the 
euds of the pole, and the cask is drawn to the ship. 

such interesting stories after she was dead and could not 
deny them. Among her descendants was Peyton Ran- 
dolph, president of the First Continental Congress. Before 
Rolfe found out how to raise tobacco in Virginia, English 
people smoked Spanish tobacco. They were simply wild 
to smoke, — drinking tobacco, they called it, — and were 
glad to pay almost any price for good tobacco. There- 



THE MASSACRE 35 

fore when John Eolfe found out how to produce it in Vir- 
ginia so good that Enghsh people preferred it to Spanish 
tobacco, there was a rush of colonists to Virginia. Wher- 
ever there was a piece of cleared ground the settlers 
planted tobacco, even in the dirt streets of Jamestown. 
The best places for tobacco were the cornfields which the 
Indians had cleared with great toil. 

41. The Massacre. — The colonists now spread far and wide 
wherever they could find a bit of cleared ground. The 
Indians did not like to have their cornfields seized and 
their hunting grounds spoiled ; but Sir Thomas Dale, the 
marshal of the colony, kept the natives in good order for 
a time. At length he went away to lead a great expedi- 
tion to India. Then Powhatan died, and chiefs hostile 
to the whites gained power. One day the Indians sud- 
denly attacked all the settlements at any distance from 
Jamestown and killed the settlers. They killed about one 
half of the colonists, and would have killed more of them 
had not a friendly Indian betrayed their plan to some 
white people who had been kind to him. 

42. Early Virginia Laws. — In early days the laws of 
Virginia were very harsh. In the earliest time every one 
was obliged to go to the exact church services the gov- 
ernor went to or be soundly whipped. In later years a 
person could stay away from the services in the ruler s 
church by paying a sum of money. Of course this would 



36 



VIRGINIA AXD HER NEIGHBORS 



not help the poor people, because they had no money 
to buy the right to stay away from the services they 
did not like. The Virginians especially distrusted the 
Puritans and Roman Catholics and drove them from 
Virginia by harsh and cruel laws. 

43. Founding- of Maryland. — The colony of Maryland was 
founded by Lord Baltimore when Charles I was king, 



" Or tie 

^- TiaAinton/ 
'UtntaMn mere- 

■Mjop Qeitc 




and was named Maryland for Henrietta Maria, his queen. 
In the beginning religion was free in this colony and both 
Protestants and Roman Catholics came to it. Among the 
latter were several English Jesuit priests. These came 
to the New World to found an English Roman Catholic 



MARYLAND 37 

colony and to convert to Christianity the Indians of 
Chesapeake Bay and the neighboring country. The 
Jesuits bought land of the Indians, built mission stations 
and began to convert the natives to Christianity. Lord 
Baltimore was himself a Roman Catholic, but he felt 
that the Jesuit fathers were gaining too much power and 
too much land. He compelled them to surrender their 
lands to him and, in this way, their great plans came 
to an end. 

44. Troubles of the Marylanders. — The new colony was 
settled on land which had once formed part of Virginia. 
The people of the older colony did not like being deprived 
of the land. One of their leading men had a fur-trading 
station within the limits of Maryland and thought that he 
had a perfect right to trade with the Maryland Indians 
without asking Lord Baltimore's permission. The founder 
of Maryland ordered the Virginia fur-trading station to be 
broken up. The fur traders were captured, and one of 
them was hanged as a pirate. Wars followed with 
Virginians and the Indians, and between the different 
religious parties in the colony. 

45. The Carolinas. — Immediately south of Virginia two 
colonies were founded, North Carolina and South Caro- 
lina. North Carolina was first settled by Virginians. 
Some of these fled from religious persecution in the older 
colony; others came because they could get better farms 



38 



VIRGINIA AND HEIi NKIGHBOKS 



in Carolina than in Virginia. South Carolina grew up 
from settlements around Charleston harbor. The colo- 
nists of South Carolina were Englishmen and Scotchmen 
and French Protestants. There were also many Scotch 
Irish in the backwoods of both Carol inas. 







Slave Quarters on a Carolina Rice Plantation. 

46. Negro Slavery. — In 1619 a vessel sailed into the 
James River and sold the settlers there twenty negro 
slaves. From this beginning slavery slowly grew until 
the greater part of the hard labor in Virginia and 



MASON AND DIXON'S LINE 39 

Maryland was performed by negro slaves. In South 
Carolina, and later in Georgia, there were a great many 
slaves because the growing of rice was the principal 
business of these two colonies. Now, rice grows in 
swamps, swamps breed malaria, and malaria kills white 
people. Shipload after shipload of negroes were brought 
to Charleston from Africa and the West Indies. Many 
of these negro slaves were fierce and untamed. They 
rebelled and tried to kill their masters. On their part, 
the white rulers of the colony made harsh laws to keep 
the blacks in order. 

47. Mason and Dixon's Line. — When Pennsylvania (p. 59) 
came to be founded, a great dispute arose as to the bound- 
ary between that colony and Maryland. In the end, this 
matter was arranged and the line was run as you can see 
it on any map of the United States. The eastern end 
of this boundary line was marked by two English survey- 
ors, Mason and Dixon. The line therefore is known in 
history as Mason and Dixon's line. South of this line 
were the colonies where slavery was important ; north of 
this line were the colonies where slavery was not impor- 
tant and where it was abolished soon after the Revolu- 
tion. It is easy to see, therefore, that Mason and Dixon's 
line is worth remembering, because it marks the boundary 
between the North and the South. 



40 VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBORS 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. Sir Walter Ealegh sent exploring expeditions to Virginia. 

2. 1607. Jamestown in Virginia, the first permanent English 
settlement in America, founded. 

3. John Rolfe married Powhatan's daughter and began the culti- 
vation of tobacco. 

4. Lord Baltimore and the English Jesuits founded Maryland. 

5. 1619. Negro slavery introduced into Virginia. 

6. Mason and Dixon's line separated the North and the South. 

QUESTIONS 

1. How did Ralegh gain Elizabeth's favor ? 

2. In what year did Newport sail for Virginia ? Why was Vir- 
ginia settled ? 

3. How many settlers died on the way to Virginia ? 

4. What were the names of some of the principal points ? 

5. Why did the first colonists die so rapidly ? 

6. Who was the best story-teller in American history ? 

7. Who married Pocahontas ? What else did he do ? 

8. How did the Indians like the whites ? 

9. For whom was Maryland named ? 

10. What did the English Jesuits hope to do in Maryland ? 

11. Why did settlers go to North Carolina ? 

12. Why were there so many slaves in South Carolina ? 

13. Why did Mason and Dixon's line separate the North and the 
South? 



VI 



THE FOUNDING OF NEW ENGLAND 

48. William Bradford. — Sometime near the beginning of 
the seventeenth century a little boy of about twelve 
years of age might have been seen almost any Sunday 
morning going across the fields from Austerfield in 




The House where William Bradford was born. 

England to church ten miles away. His name was 
William Bradford. In later life he was governor of 
Plymouth and he wrote a History of Plymouth Planta- 

41 



42 THE FOUNDING OF NEW ENGLAND 

tion, which is one of the most famous books ever written 
in America. William Bradford was a good scholar ; he 
could read his Bible, which then very few children of 
twelve could do. He walked ten miles to church to listen 
to a great Puritan preacher, John Robinson. Soon after 
this time King James decided to stop Puritan preaching. 
So John Robinson abandoned his church and preached in 
the house of William Brewster, the postmaster of Scrooby. 
Bradford now had to walk only two or three miles to 
church and back, for Scrooby is not far from Auster- 
field. 

49. Flight of the Pilgrims. — Now King James was deter- 
mined to make the Puritans go to the regular church 
services or leave England. The law of England was on 
the king's side ; for it threatened imprisonment, or ban- 
ishment, under pain of death in case of return, and loss of 
property, to all those who would not go to the regular 
services. Soon Brewster and Bradford and their neigh- 
bors found the king's officers spying upon them. Some 
of them were arrested ; others escaped arrest only by 
hiding. They made up their minds to flee away to 
Holland ; for the Hollanders would let them worship God 
as their consciences told them was right. 

50. The Flight to Holland. — It was difficult to live in Eng- 
land, but it turned out to be nearly impossible to get 
away. The first captain whom they employed betrayed 



THE .PILGRIMS IN HOLLAND 43 

them to the kmg's officers. These stole their goods and 
shut them up in prison at Boston, an Enghsh town, from 
which Boston in New England took its name. It hajD- 
pened, however, that the people of Boston disliked the 
state church very nearly as much as did the Pilgrims, so 
they treated the prisoners kindly, and set them free as 
soon as they could. The Pilgrims next hired a Dutch 
captain to take them over to Holland. But when they 
were getting the women and children on board of his 
ship, soldiers appeared in the distance. These frightened 
the Dutch captain so thoroughly that he sailed away, 
leaving one half of his passengers behind. At last, how- 
ever, most of them reached Holland. 

51. The Life in Holland. — In Holland the Pilgrims could 
worship God as they thought right ; but they found it 
very hard to procure food and shelter for themselves 
and their families. In England they had been farmers. 
At Leyden, in Holland, where they settled, they had to 
support themselves in other ways. William Bradford, 
for example, made cloth ; William Brewster and Edward 
Winslow printed books. Their children, as they grew 
up, sought other means of living. Some of them became 
soldiers ; others became sailors and went on long voyages 
in Dutch ships. 

52. Another Pilgrimage determined on. — The Pilgrims thought 
that it would be a good plan to go to America. In that 



44 THE FOUNDIKG OF NEW ENGLAND 

country there was plenty of land, occupied only by sav- 
ages, and they could become fanners again. To this plan 
there were many objections. Some objectors said that 
the old men and the women could never sail so far. 
Others asserted that the savages and the wild beasts 
would eat the colonists. To all these objections it was 
answered that all great undertakings are difficult and 
must be overcome with courage equal to the greatness 
of the enterprise. 

53. The Voyage of the "Mayflower." — After many delays 
and numerous troubles, about one hundred Pilgrims found 
themselves sailing across the Atlantic Ocean on the 
stout little ship Mayfioioer. Fierce storms swept down 
on them. One storm was so fierce that one of the May- 
flower s deck beams was bent and cracked. Now it hap- 
pened that the Pilgrims had with them a great jackscrew 
— something like the screw with which house movers 
raise a house from its foundations. With this they 
raised the beam to its place. After a long and tem- 
pestuous voyage, they reached Cape Cod. They tried to 
sail around the cape to the Hudson River, but were forced 
to put back. They determined to settle in that region, 
and the men began exploring the country, while the 
women washed the clothes in tubs made from barrels. 
On one of the first expeditions William Bradford, now 
a grown man, caught his foot in a deer trap. He was 



THE LANDING OF THi: PILGRIMS 



45 



jerked on to his back, but his comrades speedily released 
him. He was only bruised a little and shaken up. Soon 
after their return they started to make a longer trip. 

54. The Landing of the Pilgrims. — Leaving the Mayjioicer 
at anchor in Provincetown harbor at the end of Cape 




The First New England Washing Day. 



Cod, the leading Pilgrims set out on their third and last 
exploring expedition ; this time they went in a large, open 
sailboat. Captain Myles Standish, their military leader, 
Governor Carver, William Bradford, and other chief men 
were in the party. They had no lack of adventures. 
At one place the Indians shot arrows at them. At 



46 



THE FOUNDING OF NEW ENGLAND 



another time a squall burst upon them, broke theh rud- 
der, and snapped their mast into three pieces. They 
seemed to be on the point of shipwreck when suddenly 
they found themselves in smooth water. The next morn- 
ing when the sun rose they saw that they were on an 
island in Plymouth harbor. That day they spent drying 

their clothes and repairing 
their boat. The next day 
was Sunday, and they rested 
on the island. The third day, 
Monday, December 21, 1620, 
they sounded the harbor and 
found good anchorage for the 
Mayflower, which was still 
at Provincetown. They also landed on the mainland, 
and found deserted Indian cornfields and plenty of fresh 
water. It seemed to them to be a good place for settle- 
ment. So they sailed across Massachusetts Bay to Cape 
Cod, and told the good news to the people on the May- 
floioer. A week later she was at anchor in Plymouth 
harbor. 

55. Sickness and Death. — The Pilgrims had founded Ply- 
mouth ; but their hardest trials were before them. It 
was the middle of a New England winter ; there was no 
shelter on shore. Everything had to be done ; trees to 
be cut down, houses to be built, their goods and food 




SICKNESS AND DEATH 



47 



to be ferried ashore. For months they used the May- 
jioioer as headquarters. Working parties went on land 
and as fast as houses were built families were brought 
ashore and began housekeeping. Soon they began to 




SA^^^^^m^' 



Plymouth Rock. 

The "rock" is seen through the iron fence. One can go in and stand upon it 
when tlie gate is open. 

sicken with the hard labor in the cold and wet ; then a 
dreadful disease, called the scurvy, attacked them. Some- 
times of their little number two or three died in a day, 
until nearly one half of them were dead. At one time 
there were but six or seven well persons to nurse the 



48 



THE FOUNDING OF NEW ENGLAND 



sick and dying, cook the food, and keep watch for Indians. 
Yet all this time there was no grumbling. Each one did 

his or her part willingly and 
cheerfully — a rare example and 
worthy to be remem- 
bered. In the spring, 
when the general sick- 
ness was over, Governor Carver 
died of a sunstroke, William 
Bradford was chosen governor in 
his place. 
56. The Indians : Samoset and Squanto. 
— r Oftentimes in the winter the 
watchers had seen Indians lurking 
on the edge of the woods. In March, 
1621, an Indian walked boldly into 
the village crying, " Welcome." His name 
was Samoset, and he soon brought to 
Plymouth another Indian whose name 
A New England ^^^^^ Squanto. The second savage was the 

Indian. ^ ^ 

As he appeared to the o^^lj ^'^^ ^^^^ ^f the tribe which had once 

maker of the weather- ^^,^^^ ^^ PlymOUth. The Pilgrims fed 
vane of the Province "^ ~ 

House, in Boston. ^^^^ sheltered Squanto, and in turn he 
told them how to plant corn, tread out eels, and dig 
clams. If they had not learned how to do these things, 
probably they would have starved. Soon there came 




KDWAKl) WIXSLOW AND MASSASOIT 



49 



also the greatest Indian chief of the ueigliborhood. His 
name was Massasoit. The Pilgrims feasted him with 
a roasted goose, and he went home contented. 

57. Winslow saves Massasoit's Life. — Edward Winslow paid 
two visits to Massasoit. The second time when he reached 
the chieftain's house he fomid it filled with Indians mak- 
ing so great a din that Winslow nearly fainted. They 
told him that Massasoit was dying and his eyes were 
closed. Winslow had some jam with him. He placed a 
little on the end of a knife and 
forced it between the chieftain's 
teeth ; then he opened his mouth 
and scraped his tongue and gave 
him a little water with jam in it. 
This made Massasoit feel so much 
better that he opened his eyes. 
The next morning Winslow made 
him some porridge of Indian corn 
flavored with strawberry leaves 
and sassafras. When he left to 
go back to Plymouth, Massasoit was walking about. He 
never forg-ot what the Pilgrims had done for him. But 
his son, King Philip, forgot all about it and killed every 
white man, woman, or child that he could. 

58. Captain Myles Standish and Peksuot. — The Pilgrims' mili- 
tary leader was a soldier named Myles Standish. It was 




Edward Wixslow's Plate 
AND Canteen. 

Metal bottle to carry water. 



50 THE FOUNDING OF NEW ENGLAND 

well for them that they had a brave and trained soldier 
to lead them ; for the Indians living to the north of 
Plymouth made up their minds to kill all the Pilgrims. 
Massasoit told Winslow what they had in mind, and 
Stand ish with a few men at once set out to show these 
northern Indians how dangerous it was to plot against 
the whites. When Standish ■ came to the Indians, they 
were very insolent to him. Some of them sharpened 
their knives on the stones in front of his face. One of 
them named Peksuot was a large man. Standish was 
short, and Peksuot, striding up to him, told him that 
" though he was a great captain, yet he was but a little 
man." And Wituwamat, another Indian, holding up his 
knife, said it should eat and not speak. Standish, on 
his part, kept silent until all his preparations were 
made. Then, making a sign to his men to fall on, he 
seized the giant Peksuot and killed the Indian with his 
own knife. Wituwamat and two more Indians were 
killed. The rest of the savages were so frightened by 
the vigor of the Pilgrim captain that they made peace 
as soon as possible. 

59. Massachusetts, 1630. — John Winthrop was an English 
gentleman of fortune and reputation. He did not like 
the way King Charles was governing England. He had 
some ideas of his own on the government of a state. 
Especially he wished to live under the rules laid down 



SETTLEMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS 



51 




in the Bible. Other well-to-do Englishmen wished to do 
precisely the same thing. In 1630 they came to Massa- 
chusetts with fifteen vessels — 
among them was the Maijfioicer 
— and hundreds of colonists. 
Salem had already been founded. 
The newcomers settled at Boston 
and at other towns around Boston 
harbor, — Charlestown, Dor- 
chester, Watertown, and Rox- 
bury. 

60. Hardships of the Boston Settlers. — The settlers around 
Boston harbor reached their new homes in the summer. 
There were so many of them, however, that it was impos- 
sible to provide houses for all of them before the cold 
weather set in. Lady Arbella^ Johnson, daughter of the 
Earl of Lincoln, and for whom the flagship of Winthrop's 
fleet had been named, was among the first to die. It 
was a long time before the colonists could raise any 
food for themselves. At one time Governor Winthrop 
had only part of a hogshead of meal left. Before that 
was gone a vessel arrived from England and the worst 
danger was over. 

61. Rapid Growth of Massachusetts. — After the first year or 
two there were no more hardships in Massachusetts. In 



^ This is the way the name was spelled by Governor AVinthrop. It is 
the same word as Arabella. 



52 



THE FOUNDING OF NEW ENGLAND 



ten years' time twenty thousand colonists landed on her 
shores. They settled northward along the seacoast as far 
as Portsmouth in New Hampshire and York in Maine, 
For many years Massachusetts governed these outlying 
settlements, and after a while Plymouth was added to 




One of the Oldest Houses in New England. 

her by the king. Other settlers founded the colonies 
of Rhode Island and Connecticut, so that by 1640 New- 
England was well established. 

62. PuWic Education. — In a "Bible Commonwealth" it 
was necessary that people should be able to read, so that 



ROGER WILLIAMS AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY 



53 



tliey could study the Bible. Schools were at once estab- 
lished in Massachusetts and every child given the chance 
to learn to read and write and also 

Ir 

to do easy sums in arithmetic. Then, 
in 1636, the legislature gave a sum of 
mopey, equal to one half of the taxes 
for one year, for the establishment of a 
college. It took its name from John 
Harvard, a young minister who gave 
to it one half of his property. In this [Ig 
way there grew up in Massachusetts a 
system of public education. At nearly 
the same time a printing press was 
established at Cambridge. 

63. Roger Williams and Religious Liberty. 
— In a " Bible Commonwealth" reli- 
gion and government were likely to 
be closely bound together, and the re- 
lisrion was certain to be that of the rulino; men of the 
state. Roger Williams was a young Puritan minister, 
who thought that tlie government had no right to med- 
dle in any way with religion. He also held other inter- 
esting ideas as, for instance, that the king of England 
could not give American land to colonists because the 
Indians and not the English king owned North America. 
Wherever he went Roger Williams proclaimed these ideas 




A A'ew England 
Child. 



54 THE FOUNDING OF NEW ENGLAND 

most boldly. He found Plymouth an unpleasant place to 
live in, and left it suddenly after scolding Bradford for his 
doings. The Massachusetts people, on their part, expelled 
Williams from their colony. He therefore bought land of 
the natives and founded a settlement of his own where 
every one should be absolutely free to worship God as he 
saw fit. This settlement was called Providence. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. King James persecuted Bradford, Brewster, and their friends. 

2. They fled to Holland and later to America. 

3. They settled Plymouth, 1620. 

4. John Winthrop and his friends founded Massachusetts, 1630. 

5. It was a religious state or Bible Commonwealth. 

6. Eoger Williams founded Providence for freedom of conscience. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Who was William Bradford ? 

2. Why did the Pilgrims flee to Holland ? 

3. Where was the Mayfloiver when the Pilgrims landed? 

4. Why was the first winter at Plymouth worthy to be remem- 
bered ? 

5. How did Myles Standish compel the northern Indians to 
respect the Pilgrims ? 

6. Why did John Winthrop come to Massachusetts ? 

7. Where were the first settlements ? 

8. Why was public education necessary ? 



VII 



THE MIDDLE COLONIES 



64. The Dutch and Swedish Colonies. — The first settlements 
in the Middle states were made by Dutch and Swedish 
settlers, and not by English colonists. The Dutch and 
Swedish colonists were never very numerous, and they 
resembled the English in 

many of their ways and also 
in their religion, as they were 
Protestants. The Dutch con- 
quered the Swedes and the 
English conquered the Dutch, 
so that finally all these set- 
tlements fell into the hands 
of Englishmen. 

65. The Voyage of Henry 
Hudson, 1609. — The first 
Dutch vessel to visit these 
shores was the little ship 
Half-Moon. Her captain was 

Henry Hudson, an Englishman, and he sailed under the 
He was seeking that easy way to China 

55 




mmmic 
ocum 



Dutch flag 



56 THE MIDDLE COLONIES 

for which Columbus, Cabot, Cartier, and countless other 
seamen had vainly searched. Sailing up the Hudson 
River, Captain Henry Hudson thought that now, at last, 
the long-hunted waterway was found. The water was 
salt, and the tide came in and went out. But at length 
the water began to freshen and the stream to become 
so shallow that the Half-Moon could go no farther. It 
was a splendid river. Hudson named it The Great 
River of the Mountains, as it flowed in parts of its course 
by steep, towering cliffs. The Dutch settlers, however, 
called it the North River ; but we know it by its English 
name of Hudson River. 

66. The Dutch Fur Traders. — The Great River of the Moun- 
tains could not be used as a passage to India ; but Hudson 
had made friends with the Indians near the site of the 
present city of Albany. In those days furs were very 
expensive in Eurojje. They cost so much, indeed, that 
only very rich people, as kings and bishops, could wear 
them. Furs were very cheap among these Indians, and 
very plentiful. Dutch fur traders came to North America. 
After a time they established a station at the mouth of 
the river, and called it Fort Amsterdam. This settle- 
ment grew into New York City. A few years later they 
bought the island on which Fort Amsterdam stood for 
fourteen dollars in goods, — cloth and beads and other 
things which the Indians valued. They called the island 
Manhattan Island. 



THE DUTCH AND THE INDIANS 



57 



67. The Dutch and the Indians. — Slowly Dutch colonists 
came and settled in New Netherland, for that was the 
name which they gave to the colony. For a few years 
they prospered. Then one of their governors, named 
William Kieft, ordered the massacre of some fugitive 




Life in a Dutch Farm House. 

Indians who were encamped where Jersey City now 
stands. This led to an Indian war. The Dutch farmers 
and their families were killed or driven to seek shelter at 
New Amsterdam — for that was the name given to the 
settlement which had grown up around the post. Proba- 



58 THE MIDDLE COLONIES 

bly the colony would have beeu utterly ruined had 
not English settlers in Connecticut hastened to the 
rescue. 

68 . Governor Stuyvesant. — After Kief t came Governor Peter 
Stuyvesant. He had a wooden leg, beautifully bound 
with silver bands. He also had a tremendous temper, 
which was always getting the mastery of him. On these 
occasions he stumped about on his wooden leg and used 
very strong-sounding Dutch words. He ruled the colony 
with an iron hand and persecuted vigorously those who 
did not agree with him. Altogether, Governor Stuyvesant 
is worth bearing in mind. 

69. The English Conquest, 1664. — King Charles II sent out 
an expedition to seize the Dutch settlements. The Dutch 
people had been very kind to him when he was an exile, 
and Holland and England were at peace, but the Dutch 
colonies were very much in the way. So five English 
vessels sailed up to Fort Amsterdam and demanded its 
surrender. Stuyvesant was more furious than ever before. 
He tore the English commander's letter into little bits 
and threw them on the floor. He said that "■ he would 
rather be carried out dead " than surrender. But no one 
else at New Amsterdam wished to die, so Stuyvesant 
surrendered. Many years later he died peacefully at his 
farm or " bowery," as the Dutch called it, on Manhattan 
Island. New Netherland now became New York. The 



WILLIAM PEXX 



59 



Dutch settlers were treated very kindly by their English 
conquerors and flourished more than they had before. 

70. William Penn. — William Penn, the founder of Penn- 
sylvania, was the son of a bold, bluff admiral of the same 
name. The younger man dis- 
appointed his father sadly. 
Instead of being a fashion- 
able man of the day, he 
became a Quaker. He said 
"thee" and "thou," and 
wore his hat in his father's 
presence. The admiral turned 
him out of doors, and the 
younger Penn speedily found 
himself in prison, for the 
Quakers were cruelly per- 
secuted in England in those 
days. He faced his judges 
with so much courage that 
the old admiral relented, 
took him back to his affection, and, dying, left him a 
large fortune. 

71. Pennsylvania, 1682. — Among the admiral's other prop- 
erty were claims for money on the government. It was not 
probable that Charles II would ever pay these debts, for he 
had a great dislike to paying debts. Penn, however, had 




The William Penn Statue at 
Philadelphia. 



60 THE MIDDLE COLONIES 

become interested in colonization, and wished to found 
a colony where he and his fellow-Quakers could do as 
they liked. So he told the king that he would take some 
lands in America instead of the money which was due. 
This country was named by the king " Pennsylvania," 
meaning " Penn's woods." In this way William Penn 




The Penn Treaty Tree. 
Under this tree William Penn made one of his treaties with the Indians. 

came to be a great American landowner ; and the Quakers 
were sure of a place of refuge from the whippings, im- 
prisonment, and cruel deaths which they suffered in Eng- 
land and elsewhere. 

72. Penn and the Indians. — King Charles in giving, or 
rather selling, Pennsylvania to Penn had sold only his 
interest in it. It was expected that Penn would buy 



THE SETTLERS OF PENNSYLVANIA 61 

the Indians' consent to his settlement also. Lord Balti- 
more's colonists had bought their lands of the Indians, 
and other colonists had done the same thing, as, for 
instance, the Dutch fur traders had bought Manhattan 
Island, and Roger Williams had bought Providence. 
Penn came to America for a few months, and made 
several treaties with the Pennsylvania Indians and paid 
them for as much land as his colonists would need for 
some time. He also insisted that his colonists in trad- 
ing with tlie Indians should always be perfectly fair and 
honest with them. 

73. The Settlers of Pennsylvania. — Penn allowed people of 
all religions to worshi]3 as they saw fit in his colony. To 
Pennsylvania, therefore, came people of many races and 
religions ; there were Welshmen and Scotch-Irishmen, 
and especially there were very many Germans. In fact, 
before many years the English were outnumbered by 
people of other nations. The great mass of these settlers 
were too poor to pay their passage money to the colony ; 
many of them, therefore, agreed with the captain of the 
ship which brought them over to labor for three years or 
more after their arrival in the colony. These newcomers 
were called " redemption ers." When they landed at 
Philadelphia the captain sold them as servants, to the 
highest bidder, for three years or more. In this way he 
got back the passage money. 



62 THE MIDDLE COLONIES 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. Dutch and Swedish colonists came first to the Middle Colo- 
nies. 

2. The Dutch conquered the Swedes, and the English conquered 
the Dutch. 

3. New ISTetherlaud became New York. 

4. William Penn founded Pennsylvania. 

5. William Penn treated the Indians fairly. 

QUESTIONS 

1. What did Henry Hudson do ? 

2. Give three names of the river he explored. 

3. How did the Dutch settlements begin ? 

4. Why did Peter Stuy vesant surrender ? 

5. Who was William Penn ? 

6. How did he treat the Indians ? 

7. Who were the " redemptioners " ? 



VIII 

THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS 

74. The Attack on Schenectady. * — By this time there had 
been a great revolution in England. James II had fled 
to France and the king of that country had sheltered 
him and made war on England. When all this was 
going on in Europe, it could hardly be expected that 
Frenchmen and Englishmen in America would long con- 
tinue at peace. In 1690, in the midst of winter's storms, 
Frenchmen and Indians marched southward from Canada 
and attacked Schenectady. This town was then on the 
western frontier of New York. It was protected by a 
strong wooden fence or stockade ; but the inhabitants 
felt so secure in the middle of winter that they left the 
gate open. It is said that they even built two snow men 
to stand by the gate and keep watch. Just at dawn the 
French and Indian invaders stole through the open gate, 
burst in the house doors, and began killing the white 
people — children and women as well as the men. Some 
Mohawk Indians, who were friendly to the English, pur- 
sued the Canadians as they marched back to the St. 

1 Pronounced Sken-ek-tady. 
63 



64 



THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS 



Lawrence. Only about, one half of the French and 
their Indian allies ever reached home again. 

75. Hannah Dustan. — For years after this beginning the 
French attacks kept up. The most famous story of this 
early time of the French and Indian Wars is that of 







A New England " Garrison House." 

In the frontier towns there were several of these "garrison houses." These were 
built of logs, and the upper story overhung the lower. This house was attacked 
by the Indians and is still standing. 

Hannah Dustan. She was a New England woman. She 
was captured at Haverhill with another woman and 
hurried northward to Canada by a small party of Indians, 
— among them was an English boy, who had been cap- 
tured some years before. One day Mrs. Dustan asked 



CAPTURE OF LOUISBURG 65 

one of the Indians where he would hit her with a toma- 
hawk to kill her instantly, and the Indian showed her the 
exact spot. That night, when the Indians were sleeping, 
she and her companions and the captive boy armed them- 
selves with tomahawks and killed all the Indians except- 
ing one old woman and a boy, who ran off into the 
woods. Embarking in an Indian canoe the three white 
fugitives drifted down the Merrimac River to Haverhill. 
And so Mrs. Dustan returned safely to her husband and 
seven children. One child, who was taken with her, 
was killed by the Indians on the first day, and her house 
was burned down. But the escape was a most wonderful 
one, and Mrs. Dustan at once became famous. 

76. Capture of Louisburg, 1745. — In the course of these long 
wars the colonists sent out many expeditions to attack the 
French settlements. Some of these expeditions were badly 
managed and ended in disaster ; others were better con- 
ducted and resulted in victory. The most successful ex- 
pedition of all was one to seize Louisbing, a fortified town 
on the island of Cape Breton. The British admiral com- 
manding the British fleet on the North Atlantic coast 
thought that it was all nonsense for the colonists to 
attempt the capture of a fortified town, and refused to 
help them. The colonists, however, went on with their 
preparations. Major William Pepperell of Kittery, Maine, 
took command. He sailed with his expedition from 



66 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS 

Boston and reached Cape Breton Island before the ice had 
gone away from the coast. The Louisburgers could not 
believe their eyes when they saw the New Englanders 
marching to the attack. They yielded as soon as they 
could. But the English government did not seem to care 
to keep places which had been captured by colonists. 
They restored Louisburg to the French. It had to be con- 
quered again in a few years by the British generals, 
Amherst and Wolfe, after a great deal of trouble. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. The French and Indian Wars, which began with an attack on 
Schenectady, lasted many years. 

2. In 1745 the New Englanders captured Louisburg. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Where is Schenectady ? What happened there ? 

2. How did Mrs. Dustan escape ? 

3. Where was Louisburg ? 

4. In what year was it captured ? 



IX 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 



77. Franklin's Boyhood. — Benjamin Franklin was a Boston 
boy. His father was a tallow chandler and soap boiler and 
had a family of seventeen children. Benjamin was the 
fifteenth child. When he was only ten years of age his 
father took him from school and set him to cutting wicks 
for candles, filling dipping molds, tending shop, and run- 
ning errands. The boy hated this work and longed to go 
to sea. His father declared against this plan and appren- 
ticed him to his brother James, a printer. Benjamin was 
a good deal of an athlete. He was a fine swimmer and 
boatman, and was a leader among his playmates. 

78. Franklin's Education. — This boy left school at ten 
and did what he could to earn his bread and lodging ; 
when he was twenty 3^ears of age his learning attracted 
attention wherever he went. He taught himself in the 
odd moments when he was not working or exercising. 
He borrowed books, he spent all his money in buying 
books, he starved himself to save money to buy a book. 
When he was still a mere boy he wrote ballads about 
pirates and shipwrecks and printed them on his brother's 
press. He then sold them about the streets. But his 

67 



68 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 



father told him that poets were generally beggars, so he 
gave up writing poetry very abruptly, for the last thing 
he wished to be was a beggar. Instead of writing poetry 
he turned his energies to improving his prose style, and 








The Kite Experiment. 

Franklin was always making experiments. In this one he proved that a kite could 
be used to tow one through the water. Franklin was one of the finest swimmers 
in the world, and at one time thought of becoming a teacher of swimming. 

worked so hard and so successfully that in a few years he 
became one of the best writers in the colonies. He also 
perfected himself in arithmetic, in which he had twice 
failed at school. 

79. Franklin runs away. — Benjamin and his brother did 
not get on very well together. Sometimes the older 
brother beat the younger one. At length Benjamin could 
bear it no longer. He smuggled himself on board of a 



FRANKLIN IN PHILADELPHIA 69 

coasting sloop bound for New York, as that was the nearest 
place where there was a prmtmg press ; but there was no 
work for hnn in New York. So on he went to Philadel- 
phia where there was also a printing press, and the only 
one south of New York. 

80. Franklin's Arrival at Philadelphia. — Storm, rain, and 
cold marked the way from New York to Philadelphia. 
In his working clothes, with his pockets bulging with 
shirts and stockings, a loaf of bread under each arm, and 
munching a piece of a third loaf, Benjamin Franklin made 
his entrance upon the scene of his future life. As he 
passed a doorway there stood a girl who thought he 
made an awkward, ridiculous appearance, and laughed as 
she looked at him ; she afterwards became his wife. All 
the bread that he could not eat he gave to a woman who 
was poorer than he, for Franklin still had about a dollar 
left. Then entering a Quaker meeting-house — for it was 
Sunday — he fell fast asleep. A few years later, after 
many adventures, Franklin set up for himself as a printer. 
This part of his life you may read about in his own words 
in his Autohiography, or "Life written by himself." 

81. A Prosperous Printer. — Franklin worked early and late 
— early, before his neighbors were out of bed, and late, 
after they had retired for the night. He always lived 
within his means and avoided idle companions. His 
reputation for industry and good workmanship rapidly 



70 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 

spread. Offers of money and of work came to him from 
many persons. He soon began to publish a newspaper. 




Benjamin Franklin. 
Notice the electrical apparatus at the back of the chair aud the lightning outside. 



FRANKLIN'S RULES FOR CONDUCT 71 

There was another paper already in existence in Philadel- 
phia, but Franklin's speedily proved to be the better. 
He was a very good writer, was witty, and very energetic. 
He carefully excluded all personal abuse from its columns, 
and strove to have the earliest news, and to make his 
paper instructive and entertaining. 

82. " Poor Richard." — In 1732, when his paper was well 
started, he began the publication of an almanac under the 
name of Richard Saunders. It is usually known, however, 
as Poor RiclianVs Almanac. Every vacant space in this 
pamphlet Franklin filled with bits of good advice and 
worldly wisdom ; as, for example, " It is hard for an 
empty sack to stand upright ; " " Many words will not 
fill a bushel ; " '' God helps them that help themselves ; " 
" Lost time is never found again." These, and " Poor 
Richard's " other sayings, were finally gathered into a 
book. This book became widely known ; it has been 
reprinted more than four hundred times, and has been 
translated into French, German, Italian, Spanish, Danish, 
Swedish, Welsh, Polish, Gaelic, Russian, Bohemian, Dutch, 
Chinese, and other languages. 

83. Franklin's Rules for Conduct. — Franklin also drew up a 
set of rules for his own daily conduct. Among these were : 
"■ Eat not to dullness," " Avoid trifling conversation," 
"Wrong none by doing injuries." He soon found that 
he had too many rules for his guidance. So he made up 



72 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 

a table of virtues, thirteen in number. He then ruled a 
page of a book in squares, each square standing for a vir- 
tue and a day. On each page there were seven sets of 
squares, one set for Sunday, another for Monday, and so 
on, one set for each day of the week ; each set of squares 
was thirteen lines deep, one for each virtue. Every even- 
ing he would sit down and mark a dot in its proper square 
for each fall from virtue. By comparing half a dozen 
pages he could see if he were conquering his faults, or if 
his faults were conquering him. Even when he had become 
one of the foremost men in the world, Franklin still carried 
with him a little ivory book ruled in a similar manner 
— as a sort of reminder of the weak points which he had 
found in his character. 

84. Franklin as a Man of Science. — It was as a man of 
science that Franklin became most widely known before 
the Revolutionary War. His greatest discovery was the 
fact that ordinary electricity made by rubbing a glass 
tube, and the lightning which comes down from the 
clouds, are the same. The truth of this idea Franklin 
showed by drawing down the electricity from the clouds 
by means of a kite and string and then performing with 
the electricity thus obtained the usual electrical experi- 
ments. Franklin's description of his experiments at- 
tracted attention in England and in France and made his 
name well known throughout the civilized world. 



COLONIAL LIFE 73 

85. Colonial Life. — This little study of Franklin's early 
life shows us that in the first part of the eighteenth cen- 
tury life in the colonies was becoming a Httle more like 
the life of our own time. Newspapers were established ; 
printing presses were becoming common ; people were 
finding time for reading and study. Franklin was for 
many years deputy postmaster-general. This is inter- 
esting, because it shows that some intercourse must have 
grown up between the people of the several colonies, 
or they would not have supported a postal service, even 
so imperfect as that which Franklin managed. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston. 

2. He discovered that electricity and lightning were the same. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Why did Franklin go to Philadelphia ? 

2. How did he educate himself ? 

3. Wha'k did he do for general education ? 

4. What were some of " Poor Richard's " sayings ? 

5. What were some of Franklin's rules of conduct ? 

6. What was his greatest discovery? 



X 

GEORGE WASHINGTON 

86. Franklin and Washington. — These two great men grew 
up so differently that it is worth while to note how very 
unlike they were, although they worked together at the 
same time and for the same object — the independence and 
organization of the United States. One was a New Eng- 
lander, the other a Virginian. One was a student, a man 
of business, a politician, a diplomatist ; the other was a 
land surveyor, a soldier, a leader of men. 

87. The Young Surveyor. — George Washington and 
Abraham Lincoln — the two greatest Presidents of the 
United States — were land surveyors. When only sixteen 
years of age Washington surveyed his brother's turnip 
field. He did the work so well that Lord Fairfax, who 
lived in the neighborhood, hired him to survey large tracts 
of land in the wilderness of the frontiers of Virginia. 
Washington was a born hunter and fighter. He was six 
feet three inches tall, and weighed over two hundred 
pounds. He had no sense of fear. The first rattlesnake 
he killed only aroused his curiosity ; when an army was 
going to pieces around him he was only more clear headed 
and courageous. This life in the wilderness, at the head of 

75 



76 GEORGE WASHINGTON 

a surveyor's expedition, gave Washington self-reliance and 
habits of command. When he had thus schooled himself 
to earn his living, he inherited from his brother the great 
estate of Mt. Vernon on the Potomac. Later he married 
a rich widow. In these two ways he became one of the 
richest men in Virginia, and, indeed, in the colonies. 

88. Washington as a Fighter. — Washington came from a 
fighting family. His grandfather had waged war so 
vigorously against the Virginia and Maryland Indians 
that he had earned the name of " Devourer of Villages." 
At one time George Washington thought of entering 
the British navy as a midshipman. His mother fortu- 
nately put an end to that plan. His brother then 
secured the services of two old soldiers to teach the 
youngster fencing and other military exercises and the 
art of war. 

89. Rules of Civility. — Besides learning how to survey 
land, to lead men, and something of the art of war, 
Washington taught himself the art of good manners. 
When he was about eight years of age, he got hold of 
a book called the Young Mans Cor}ipanion. This 
book contained all kinds of information, from the best 
way to make ink to doctoring the sick. The most 
famous portion of it, however, is the " Rules for Civility," 
one hundred and ten in number. This is the most 
famous portion of the book because Washington copied 



WASHINGTON IN SOCIETY 77 

the rules into a copy book, stopping every now and 
then, when he was tired, to draw a picture of a bird 
or a man. With all his great self-control, Washington 
never succeeded in living up to all the one hundred and 
ten rules. But he certainly always observed these three 
'' rules of civility" : 

" When you meet with one of greater quality than 
yourself, stop and retire, especially if it be at a door 
or any strait^ place, to give way for him to pass. 

" Think before you speak ; pronounce not imperfectly, 
nor bring out your words too hastily, but orderly and 
distinctly. 

" Speak not evil of the absent, for it is unjust." 

90. Washington in Society. — The greater part of Wash- 
ington's life was spent in war and in discharging 
the duties of President of the United States. Most 
people saw him at the head of his army or at some 
official reception, when he felt that he represented the 
dignity of the American people. On such occasions he 
was as grave and cold as any European king or em- 
peror. In private life, however, he was quite another 
man. He was especially fond of having young people 
about him, and was pleased with the jokes, good humor, 
and gayety of his companions. He particularly liked 
dancing the square dances of the time, and on one 

1 strait place : a narrow place. 



78 GEORGE WASHINGTON 

occasion danced for three hours without once sitting 
down. There were no circuses in those days, but when 
a dancing bear came to New York when Washington 
was President, he greatly enjoyed his performances. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. Washington's early life and training fitted him to be a soldier. 

2. He taught himself good manners. 

3. He was grave or gay as the occasion demanded. 

QUESTIONS 

1. What was Washington's first bit of work ? How did he do it ? 

2. What other great American did the same kind of work ? 

3. How was Washington trained for war ? 

4. Give three of his Rules of Conduct. 

5. Why was he so grave and cold ? 

6. Was he fond of amusements ? 



XI 

THE LAST FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 

91. Washington's Journey to the French Fort. — The last French 
and Indian War began in 1754. It was brought on by 
the French building a line of forts on the Alleghany 
River in what is now western Pennsylvania. When the 
news of what the Frenchmen were doing came to Vir- 
ginia, Governor Dinwiddie was very angry, for Virginia 
claimed that region as her own. He sent a messenger 
with a letter warning the French to go away, but the 
messenger turned back before he had gone very far. Gov- 
ernor Dinwiddie then looked about him for a more 
resolute man. He knew of Washington and asked him 
to go. Washington set out with a fur trader named 
Gist and some Indians. He crossed the mountains and 
delivered his letter to the French commander. But the 
Frenchman refused absolutely to abandon the country. 

92. Washington's Homeward Journey. — The trip back to 
Virginia was a good deal more dangerous than the out- 
ward journey had been. Washington and Gist, with an 
Indian guide, set out to walk over the mountains. They 
had not gone very far when the Indian offered to carry 
Washington's gun ; but he felt that he would be safer 

79 



80 



THE LAST FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 



with the gun in his own hand and kept it. It was 
fortunate that he did so, because some time afterward 
happening to look back, he saw the Indian aiming at him. 
The Indian fired, but he hit neither of the white men. 




Mt. Vernon. 



They rushed on him before he could reload his gun, 
disarmed him, and let him go. They then set forth, and 
after many hair-breadth escapes reached the Potomac 
once more. Washington's own account of this journey is 
very interesting, and sometime you must read it. 

93. Fort Necessity. — Governor Dinwiddie now got to- 
gether some soldiers and sent them to drive off the 
French. Washington had showed himself to be so brave 



BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT 



81 



and strong that he was placed second in command of the 
expedition. His chief soon fell ill, and Washington took 
command of the force. Advancing westward he found 
that the French were even more active. He met a party 
of Frenchmen ; his men opened fire and killed the French 
leader. Washington then built Fort Necessity and tried 
to defend it against the enemy, but he was obliged to 
surrender. The Frenchmen could not take care of so 
many prisoners, so they allowed them to return to Virginia. 
The surrender was made on July 4, 1754. A new army 
was soon raised and Washington given chief command. 

94. Braddock's Defeat. — The British government now sent 
General Braddock with a force of British regulars to cap- 
ture the French forts. Gen- 



eral Braddock did not think 
highly of colonists or their 
ways of making war. He 
collected immense quanti- 
ties of supplies, which he 
could not move until Frank- 
lin came to his assistance. 
He then made a road over 
the Alleghany Mountains. 
All of this took a great 
deal of time and gave the French a chance to strengthen 
Fort Duquesne and to make other preparations for defense. 




82 THE LAST FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 

Braddock appointed Washington to be one of his aids ; but 
did not listen to his advice. On the army pressed, without 
making any attempt to find out whether the French and Indi- 
ans were near at hand or far away. Suddenly, as Braddock's 
men were nearing the end of their long march. Frenchmen 
and Indians behind trees opened fire on them. In vain 
the regulars formed in line of battle, for their enemies were 
concealed. It was not pleasant standing there to be shot 
down by some one who was hidden away. So the British 
regulars turned and ran. The French and Indians could 
not pursue them, for a body of colonial soldiers had found 
shelter behind trees, and held them off. Washington him- 
self stood in the open, encouraging his countrymen. Then 
he and the colonists slowly retired, fighting as they went. 
Braddock was mortally wounded. His second in command, 
hearing what had happened at the front, fled as fast as he 
could. And that was the end of Braddock and his campaign. 
95. Results of Braddock's Defeat. — This battle and disaster 
taught Washington many valuable lessons. For one 
thing, it showed him that British regulars were human 
beings after all, and could run away like other people. 
It did not cure the British of the habit of looking down 
on the colonists. Now Washington was not the man to 
be treated as an inferior. He journeyed from the 
Potomac to Boston to lay the case of colonial officers 
before the commander-in-chief. It was this journey that 



END OF THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS 83 

made Washington's name and figm^e known to the north- 
ern colonists. 

96. End of the French and Indian Wars. — For some time 
after Braddock's defeat the war continued to go against 
tlie British and the colonists. Then affairs began to mend 
and finally the British and the colonists became every- 
where successful. Fort Duquesne was captured, Canada 
was invaded, and the French expelled from the neighbor- 
•hood of the English colonies. Bat these later campaigns 
can best be studied in larger books. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. The French built forts on land claimed by the English. 

2. Washington journeyed to the French forts with a letter. 

3. He commanded the Virginia army and surrendered to the 
French. 

4. The British general, Braddock, was defeated by the French. 

5. Finally the French were expelled, 1763. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Why did Governor Dinwiddle select Washington as his mes- 
senger ? 

2. When did Washington surrender Fort Kecessity ? 

3. What did Braddock think of the colonists ? 

4. Who saved Braddock's army from destruction ? 

5. How did the war end ? 



XII 

THE COLONISTS AND THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT 

97. English Ideas of Colonial Dependence. — Great Britain 
was then ruled by George III with the help of a few men 
most of whom did entirely as he wished, and thought 
very much the way that he thought. One of their ideas 
was that colonists were only fit to be governed by the 
" mother country." As these men governed the " mother 
country," this was the same thing as saying that they 
themselves were the rulers of the colonists. So they set 
on foot a plan to make the colonists pay taxes to which 
their consent had never been asked, and which the colo- 
nists saw no need whatever of paying. 

98. The Stamp Tax. — One of these taxes was called the 
Stamp Tax, because the act of Parliament laying it re- 
quired wills and other legal papers, newspapers, almanacs, 
college degrees, playing cards, and many other things to 
have stamps on them, or to be written or printed on 
stamped paper. Benjamin Franklin was then in England 
as agent for the two great colonies of Massachusetts and 
Pennsylvania. He did all that he could do to make the 
British rulers see how foolish this law was; but they 
would not see it. 

84 



STAMP ACT RESISTED 



85 



99. Stamp Act Resisted. — The colonists, however, had 
not the slightest idea of obeying this law. They passed 
resolutions that only colonial assemblies could tax colo- 
nists. They held a congress at New York of delegates 




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WILLIAM BRADKOKd. 



The Day before that set fur the Stamp Tax to begin. 



from the colonies and voted that colonists had the right 
to tax themselves. The newspapers were printed without 
stamps, and the judges held their courts without requiring 
the use of stamps. Parliament repealed the Stamp Act ; 
but at the same time it passed a worse act declaring that 
it had the right to make all sorts of laws binding the 
colonists without their consent being asked. 



86 THE COLONISTS 

100. Patrick Henry's Great Speech. — It was in the contest 
over the Stamp Act that Patrick Henry made his great 
speech in the Virginia legislature. Henry was a busy 
young lawyer and was not accustomed to speaking in 
legislative bodies. He felt shy at first, but as he went on 
he forgot himself and his hearers. Thomas Jefferson was 
then a student at Williamsburg, and he has told us about 
the speech and the stir it made. The orator began by 
moving the adoption of certain resolutions which he had 
drawn up. He then went on to describe how foolish and 
unlawful it was for the British Parliament and the British 
king to tax the American colonists. It was oppression 
and could only lead to trouble. " Ca?sar and Tarquin had 
each his Brutus," he exclaimed, and went on, " Charles I, 
his Cromwell, and George III" — "Treason, treason," 
shouted the speaker of the assembly, '' Treason, treason," 
echoed from every side. But Henrj^ quietly concluded 
with " may profit by their example. If that be treason, 
make the most of it." 

101. The Tea Tax. — One would have thought that the 
resistance to the Stamp Act would have taught the 
British rulers that the colonists were not likely to stand 
much interference with their freedom without vigorous 
protests. But a few years after the Stamp Act was re- 
pealed. Parliament passed a new act laying a tax on all 
paint, paper, and tea imported into the colonies. Again 




A House in Old Boston. 
Faneuil Hall was on the opposite side of the street. 



88 THE COLONISTS 

the colonists passed resolutions and refused to have any- 
thing to do with the things which were taxed. This 
would never do, so quantities of tea were sent out from 
England without being ordered. " We wdll see," said the 
British rulers, " whether these colonists will pay taxes 
levied by Parliament." And they soon saw ; for the 
colonists regarded the taxed tea as worse than poison. 
They simply would not buy it. In Boston they went on 
board the tea ships disguised as Mohawk Indians. They 
hoisted the tea chests on deck, broke them open, and 
threw them overboard. This was called the Boston Tea 
Party and greatly angered the British rulers. The peo- 
ple of the other colonies were equally patriotic. From 
North to South they refused to use any tea on which the 
tax w^as paid. 

102. The Boston Port Act. — The rulers of Britain now de- 
termined to punish the people of Boston and Massachu- 
setts for their disobedience of laws passed by the Parlia- 
ment of Great Britain in which they were not represented. 
So Parliament passed several more laws. One of these 
put an end to the free government of Massachusetts. 
Another closed the harbor of Boston to trade and com- 
merce — not a single thing should be landed on the 
wliarves of Boston until the destroyed tea was paid for. 
But the Boston people had no idea whatever of paying 
for the tea ; they would starve first. 



FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS 89 

103. Action of the Colonies. — The people of the other 
colonies, instead of standing idly by and seeing the Bos- 
tonians starve, sent them large quantities of food and 
clothing. The people of Charleston, South Carolina, for 
instance, sent two hundred barrels of rice. Washington 
sent a flock of sheep. He would gladly have raised a 
regiment at his own expense and marched at its head to 
Massachusetts. 

104. First Continental Congress. — Up to this time the people 
of the English colonies had thought of themselves as Eng- 
lishmen. They now began to speak of themselves as 
Americans and to deny absolutely that Parliament had 
any power to make laws of any kind for them. In 1774 
delegates from the English colonies on the continent 
met at Philadelphia. This body was called the First Con- 
tinental Congress. Most of its members were not willing 
to go to war. But they all consented to the formation 
of an American association compelling all the colonists 
to refuse to use English goods until Parliament should 
repeal the hated laws. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. The rulers of Britain passed the Stamp Act to tax the colo- 
nists, 1765. 

2. The colonists resisted because they thouglit that they were 
not represented in Parliament, and the Stamp Act was repealed. 

3. The British next taxed tea and other goods brought into the 
colonies. 



90 THE COLONISTS 

4. The colonists refused to drink the taxed tea. 

5. In 1774 the First Continental Congress met. 

QUESTIONS 

1. What did George III think was the duty of good colonists ? 

2. Why was the Stamp Act a bad law ? 

3. What became of it ? 

4. What did the Boston people do with the tea ? 

5. What was the Boston Port Act ? 

6. Why did the Continental Congress meet ? and when ? 

7. What work did it do ? 




Paul Re verb's Pistol. 




THE SPIRIT OF 1776. 



XIII 

THE BEITISH ATTACK THE COLON^ISTS 

105. General Gage at Boston. — General Gage was the com- 
mander-in-chief of the British soldiers in America. He 
was now sent to Boston to command the army there, and 
also to act as royal governor of Massachusetts. It turned 
out to be exceedingly difficult to govern the people of 
Massachusetts without their consent, even with the help 
of ten thousand regulars. General Gage, indeed, could 
hardly feed and shelter his troops. The farmers would 
not sell him food and firewood for his men, or hay and 
grain for his horses. After great efforts he sometimes 
managed to get a cart load of wood or a boat load of 
hay. But the wood and the hay were not safe until 
actually unloaded in Boston ; for the carts tipped over 
in inconvenient places, and the boats sank at the 
wharves. 

106. The Minutemen. — The colonists now made prepara- 
tions for fighting. They began drilling all over New 
England. Some of them in each town promised to be 
ready to turn out at a minute's warning — for no one 
could tell when the fighting would begin or where. These 
men were called the minutemen. The New Englanders 

91 



92 THE BRITISH ATTACK THE COLONISTS 

also collected cannon, muskets, powder, balls, lead, camp- 
ing outfits, floiu-, and wagons, at various convenient places, 
to be ready at hand when the first attack should be made. 
General Gage sent his officers, sometimes disguised as 
farmers, into the country to sjDy out the doings of the 
colonists, and to make maps showing the towns and the 
roads. 

107. The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere. — While General 
Gage was spying on the colonists, they were looking 
pretty closely into what he was doing. In April, 1775, 
he made up his mind to seize a large quantity of military 
equipment which had been collected at Concord, about 
eighteen miles from Boston. But the colonists knew of 
his decision almost as soon as he* had made it. Most of 
the stores were removed from Concord, and Paul Revere 
was stationed at Charlestown ready to ride forth and 
alarm the country the moment the soldiers actually 
started. Late in the evening of April 18, 1775, a signal 
lantern, in a Boston church tower, showed him that the 
soldiers were coming. Mounting his horse, he rode over 
Charlestown Neck, through Medford to Lexington. 
There he told John Hancock and Samuel Adams — 
two patriot leaders' — that the British were coming to 
seize them. As he rode along through the darkness, 
whenever he came to a house or a village he shouted 
out : " The regulars are coming ! The regulars are 



THE MIDNIGHT RIDE OF PAUL REVERE 



93 



coming ! " Soon the bells began to ring, and the minute- 
men to rush forth from their homes, slinging on their 
powder horns as they ran. At Lexington Revere met 




The Lexington Minuteman. 



William Dawes, who had ridden out from Boston through 
Brookline and Cambridge. Just beyond Lexington they 
were both captured by some lurking British officers ; but 
not until they had done their work, for the countryside 
was alarmed. 



94 THE BRITISH ATTACK THE COLONISTS 

108. Battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775. — Meanwhile 
twelve hundred British soldiers had been ferried across 
the Charles River from Boston and had begun their 
long march to Concord. At the break of day they 
approached the village of Lexington. On the common 
were about one hundred minutemen. Their leader was 
Captain John Parker, an old soldier of the French 
and Indian Wars. Turning toward his men, he said : 
" Stand your ground ! Don't fire unless fired upon ; 
but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here." 
As the British came on. Major Pitcairn was in the 
front. Brandishing his sword, he shouted to the men 
of Lexington : " Lay down your arms, you rebels ! 
Disperse, you villains ! Disperse, I say ! " The regulars 
then fired on the minutemen. They killed Captain 
Parker and seven more, and wounded eight or ten of 
them. The rest escaped and found shelter behind a 
stone wall. 

109. Battle of Concord. — The British then marched on to 
Concord and destroyed all of the military stores that they 
could find. But most of the powder and other things 
had been removed to safe places before they arrived. 
Several hundred militiamen soon gathered on a hill near 
the village. Burning to revenge their slaughtered coun- 
trymen, they attacked a party of soldiers who were 
guarding a bridge across the Concord River and drove 



BATTLE OF CONCORD 



95 



them away.^ The British now thought that it was time 
to begin the return march to Boston. As soon as they 
were clear of the houses of Concord, they were fired upon 
by the patriots from every hill, barn, bit of woods, and 




tmWk'xm^hl-.M ,.-^\L^i^m^'^\^'''>W(miifi^K''/''^ i^'-^iu.. /«.. ^^K„>A itt 1 .-■ >.Mii^j.i.''''Vi;iv'. 



The Nineteenth of April, 1775. 

stone wall. At Lexington they found Lord Percy with a 
strong body of infantry and artillery which General Gage 
had sent from Boston on the first news that the colonists 



1 Ralph Waldo Emerson, the Concord poet, has immortalized this inci- 
dent in the following lines : — 

By the rude bridge that arched the flood, 
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, 
Here once the embattled farmers stood. 
And fired the shot heard round the world. 



96 THE BRITISH ATTACK THE COLONISTS 

were resisting the regulars. Many of the British never 
reached Lexington. Of those who did, some were so 
exhausted that they dropped on the ground, " their 
tongues hanging out like dogs." As soon as they left 
Lexington for Boston, the battle began again, and con- 
tinued until the British reached the shelter of the guns 
of the frigates anchored off Charlestown. In this way 
began the war which ended in the independence of the 
United States. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. The battles of Lexington and Concord were fought on April 
19, 1775. 

QUESTIONS 

1. What difficulties had General Gage at Boston ? 

2. Who were the minutemen ? 

3. Why did Paul Revere set out on his ride ? What hap- 
pened to him ? 

4. What did Captain Parker say ? 

5. How did the battle of Lexington begin ? 

6. Repeat Emerson's words. 

7. Describe the flight of the British from Concord and Lexington. 



XIV 

BUNKER HILL AND INDEPENDENCE 

110. The Second Continental Congress. — Congress now met 
again. It declared the war begun at Lexington to be the 
affair of all the colonists. It adopted the New England 
army at Boston as the Continental Army. It set about 
sending reenforcements to the New Englanders, and ap- 
pointed a commander-in-chief and other officers. From 
this time on the struggle, in place of being between a few 
Massachusetts colonists and the British, as the British had 
expected it would be, became a contest between the 
British rulers on the one side and the people of the thir- 
teen united colonies on the other. 

111. General Washington. — There could be no question as 
to the commander-in-chief; Washington was the only 
well-known colonist who had held high rank in war. 
John Adams of Massachusetts nominated him for the first 
place. Coming from a New Englander, the suggestion 
that a Virginian should lead the army, at the moment 
consisting almost entirely of New Englanders, had a very 
happy effect in the Middle and Southern colonies. 

112. Bunker Hill. — Washington was appointed com- 
mander-in-chief on June 15, 1775. Two days later, 

H 97 



98 



BUNKER HILL AND INDEPENDENCE 



while he was at Philadelphia, the battle of Bunker Hill 
was fought. On the night of June 16 Colonel Prescott 
and a thousand men marched from Cambridge to seize 
Charlestown peninsula. They speedily built a fort on the 
top of Breed's Hill, which rose just behind the village of 
Charlestown, but the battle is always spoken of as if the 




Battle of Bunker Hill, 

fort had been on Bunker Hill. When morning dawned 
the war ships opened fire on the daring little fort. The 
soldiers were frightened at first by the sound of the big 
cannon balls whistling past them or burying themselves 
in the earth. But Colonel Prescott coolly walked around 
the top of the fort. This encouraged the men, and they 



BUNKER HILL 99 

went on with their work. Then came reenforcements. 
Especially important was a body of New Hampshire men 
under the command of General John Stark. These sta- 
tioned themselves behind a rail fence. It took the British 
a long time to ferry their men across from Boston, and 
then they had to sit down and eat dinner. It was after- 
noon before they marched to the attack. When they 
came, the Americans waited until they could see the 
whites of the British soldiers' eyes. Then they fired and 
shot down whole rows of British soldiers. The rest fled. 
But their officers rallied them, and again they came on, 
and again ran back. This time the officers had great 
difficulty to make them go on again ; they could be seen 
striking them with their swords. When they attacked a 
third time the British were successful, for the Americans 
had shot away all their powder. They used their muskets 
as clubs, but could not long withstand the British bayo- 
nets. They ran away as well as they could. When 
Washington heard of this gallant defense he declared that 
" the liberties of America are safe." He hastened to 
Massachusetts and took command of the blockading army 
on July 3, 1775. 

113. Evacuation of Boston.^ — General Washington found 
it very hard to drive the British out of Boston. Not that 

1 Evacuation, as used in this place, means the withdrawal of the British 
troops from Boston. 



L of 



ot V. 



100 BUNKER HILL AND INDEPENDENCE 

the British troubled him very much, for they had learned 
a lesson at Bunker Hill which they could not easily forget. 
But his own men were always marching home to take 
care of their families just as he had begun to make good 
soldiers of them. In the winter his whole army was 
made over. Even a greater trouble was the fact that 
Washington had very few cannon and almost no powder. 
At length both cannon and ammunition were captured 
from the British, and Washington made preparations to 
bring the siege of Boston to a close. He planned a great 
surprise for the enemy. He carried his plans out so care- 
fully that he built a fort on Dorchester Heights, within 
gunshot of the houses and wharves of Boston, before the 
British knew what he was about. They embarked on 
their ships and sailed away, first to Halifax and then to 
New York. This was on March 17, 1776. The siege of 
Boston had lasted almost eleven months. 

114. Thomas Jefferson. — While Washington had been fight- 
ing the British at Boston another Virginian had been hard 
at work in Congress persuading members that the colonies 
must be independent. This Virginian was Thomas Jeffer- 
son. He had none of the early struggles with poverty 
which make Franklin's story so interesting ; he had none 
of the adventures in the forest which make Washington's 
early years attractive. Jefferson simply grew up like many 
other Virginia boys. He was very fond of reading and 



REASONS FOR INDEPENDENCE 101 

of English composition. He soon gained great skill in 
stating his ideas in clear, simple language, which any one 
could understand. And Jefferson's ideas were very good. 
The rulers of Britain thought that they had the right to 
govern the American colonists without their consent. 
Jefferson thought that this idea was perfectly absurd. 
He denied that the British Parliament could make any 
laws whatever for the colonies. He drew up a long list 
of the wrong and tyrannical doings of George III and the 
British Parliament. 

115. Reasons for Independence. — All through these contests, 
from the time of the Stamp Act onwards the colonists 
had shown the greatest patience. They were patient 
because they loved to be Englishmen, and loved England 
and English institutions. But the injustice of Britain's 
rulers and the killing of their countrymen in the battles 
around Boston turned this love into hate. They were 
now ready and anxious to declare themselves independent 
of Great Britain. Besides this the royal governors had 
either run away or had been driven out. The colonists 
had established new governments and were governing 
themselves without paying any attention to King George 
or his Parliament. Under these circumstances the Vir- 
ginia delegates in Congress proposed the adoption of a 
resolution declaring the thirteen colonies to be free and 
independent states. 



102 



BUNKER HILL AND INDEPENDENCE 



116. Formation of the Declaration of Independence. — It seemed 
best to have the reasons for this action distinctly stated. 

Congress therefore appointed a 
committee of five: Benjamin Frank- 
lin, John Adams, Thomas Jeffer- 
son, Roger Sherman, and Robert 
R. Livingston, to draw up the 
declaration. Jefferson was clearly 
the best man to make this state- 
ment. He sat down, without book 
or notes, and wrote out the declara- 
tion nearly in its present form. 
Congress, when it came to discuss 
the document, struck out a clause 
condemning the trade in negro 
slaves, and made a few changes in 
the actual words. Jefferson was 
irritated by these changes, so 
Franklin told him the story of the 
hatter's sign. At first it read : 
" John Thompson, Hatter. Makes 
and sells hats for ready money," 
with a pictiu-e of a hat. One 
friend advised him to omit the word 

It is not certain when he wore 

this coat; it may have been "Hatter," because it meant the 

at tlie Adoption of the Decla- ,, . ,, i // i 

ration of Independence. Same thing as the words " luakes 




Franklin's Coat. 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 103 

hats." Then the next friend said that no one cared about 
the maker of the hats if they were good. And the words 
"makes hats" were stricken out. A third friend observed 
that " sells hats " was useless, as no one expected him to 
give away the hats, and out went the word " sells." Finally 
nothing was left but the name "John Thompson" and 
the figure of a hat. Whether Franklin's story made 
Jefferson more cheerful is not known ; but on July 4, 
1776, the great declaration was adopted. Later it was 
signed by the members of Congress. 

117. The Great Declaration. — Every one sliould read the 
Declaration of Independence constantly until it is known 
by heart. It begins with a statement of the reasons for 
its existence ; namely, that a " decent respect for the 
opinions of mankind " makes it desirable to state the 
reasons for the separation from Great Britain. Jefferson 
then laid down the great ideas of government as follows : 
(1) that all men are created equal; (2) that every man 
has a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; 
(3) that governments are instituted to secure these bless- 
ings ; (4) that every righteous government rests on the 
consent of the governed ; and (5) that when any govern- 
ment fails to come up to these standards it should be over- 
thrown, and a better one set up in its place. In the second 
part of the declaration Jefferson shows how the British 
rulers had broken these great laws of nature, although 



104 BUNKER HILL AND INDEPENDENCE 

the colonists had repeatedly called their attention to their 
acts of oppression. And finally the British people, when 
appealed to, had taken the side of their government. 
Nothing therefore could be done except to separate from 
Great Britain. 

118. The Retreat from New York. — At once it seemed that 
the great declaration was not worth the paper upon 
which it was written. For the British landed on Long 
Island in such great numbers that Washington and the 
Continental Army were able to do little to stop them. In 
a fog the Americans who were not captured by the British 
were ferried across the East River to New York. Then 
they retreated from Manhattan Island. Some of them 
went up the Hudson. Washington with General Greene 
and the main body of troops retired across New Jersey 
and across the Delaware River, pursued all the time by 
British soldiers under Lord Cornwallis. When the Amer- 
icans were safe on the southern side of the Delaware, 
Cornwallis returned to New York to rest, leaving strong 
garrisons at Trenton and other outposts. 

119. Trenton, December 26, 1776. — Now at length was 
Washington's opportunity to strike a blow at the British 
and revive the drooping spirits of the Americans. The 
Delaware was filled with floating ice. But Washington 
managed to get a body of troops across it some distance 
above Trenton. He then marched all night through a 



TRENTON 



105 



hard northwest storm, — you must remember that it was 
Christmas night. At daybreak the Americans reached 
Trenton. The garrison there was composed of German 
veterans hired by Great Britain to fight the colonists. 
Thes^e were called Hessians. In astonishment these Ger- 
mans got out of bed and formed lines in the cold, snow- 
covered fields. And this was what they found : (1) Greene 




Washington crossing the Delaware. 

with cannon holding the road to New York ; (2) Sullivan 
with more cannon, holding the road up the Delaware ; and 
(3) Stark holding the bridge leading southward. There 
was nothing for the Hessians to do save to surrender, and 
they surrendered. The sight of a thousand of them 
marching through Philadelphia as captives a couple of 
days later put new courage into every one. Washing- 



106 BUNKER HILL AND INDEPENDENCE 

ton's wonderful stroke at Trenton gave new meaning to 
the Declaration of Independence. It was the turning- 
point of the war. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. The Second Continental Congress assumed control of the war. 

2. The battle of Bunker Hill taught the colonists how to fight 
the British. 

3. Declaration of Independence adopted, July 4, 1776. 

4. Washington's victory at Trenton revived American hopes, 
December, 1776. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Why was Washington appointed commander-in-chief? 

2. Tell the story of Bunker Hill. 

3. Why was Jefferson chosen to write the great declaration ? 

4. What are the principal points of the declaration ? 

5. What day and year was it adopted ? 

6. Tell the story of the Trenton campaign. In what year and 
month was it fought ? 

7. Why was it important ? 



XV 

VALLEY FORGE Al^D THE FRENCH ALLIANCE 

120. The British in Philadelphia. — The loss of a thousand 
soldiers at Trenton did not stop the British very long, for 
they had thousands more. In 1777 General Howe cap- 
tured Philadelphia, where Congress had been sitting. 
Washington did everything possible to prevent the British 
taking the city ; but in the end he was obliged to retire to 
a strong position in the hills about thirty miles from 
Philadelphia, at a place called Valley Forge. 

121. Valley Forge. — The soldiers set to work building 
huts from logs and branches of trees. They filled the 
cracks with mud and tried to make them warm and com- 
fortable. But do what they could it was impossible to 
keep warm. Their huts, indeed, were the best things 
they had. Their clothes were in rags, many of them had 
no shoes, all of them were half starved most of the time. 
Meanwhile on the Hudson their comrades had captured a 
whole British army — officers and all. 

122. Burgoyne's Campaign. — It was the summer of the 
year 1777, when the British general Burgoyne marched 
southward from Canada along the line of the old 
French invasions. He reached the Hudson safely ; but 

107 



108 



VALLEY FORGE 



once there his fortune forsook him. At Bennington in 
Vermont General Stark defeated one part of his army. 
General Schuyler had done well his part by blocking 
the forest roads with tree trunks and filling the rivers 
with anything that would stop the British. In fact, 




Bukgoyne's Surrendf:u. 
The central figure is General Gates. 

General Schuyler delayed Burgoyne for so long a time 
that when he crossed the Hudson and continued his 
march southward, he suddenly came upon a strong 
American army posted on Bemis Heights, south of 
Saratoga. This army was commanded by Horatio 
Gates ; it was led by Benjamin Lincoln, Daniel Mor- 



PLOTS AGAINST WASHINGTON 109 

gan, and Benedict Arnold. Against these men and their 
brave soldiers Burgoyne could do nothing. He fought 
two battles, and then marched back to Saratoga. But 
when he got there he found the ford across the Hudson 
strongly guarded by New England militiamen. He could 
not march northward through the wilderness. His sol- 
diers had nothing to eat, and the cannon balls from the 
American guns whistled through the camp. October 16, 
1777, he surrendered his whole army. 

123. Plots against Washington. — Many members of Con- 
gress now thought that it would be a good plan to have 
a change of commanders and give Gates the chief 
office. We must not think harshly of these men be- 
cause they could not know at the time how the success 
of the campaign against Burgoyne w^as due to Lincoln, 
Morgan, Arnold, Stark and their soldiers, and how 
little it was due to Gates. Everything had been in his 
favor, and everythiug had been against Washington. 
Finally the plot failed, and soon, indeed, Washington 
was given the powers of a dictator.^ 

124. The French Alliance. — For some time Dr. Franklin 
and other American agents had been in France trying 
to secure arms, money, and clothing from the French 
government. In this endeavor they had been very suc- 
cessful. Now when the Frenchmen heard of the defeat 

1 Dictator is a man who exercises absolute power. 



110 VALLEY FORGE 

of Burgoyne, they were anxious to enter into an alliance 
with the Americans against their old enemies, the British. 
This treaty of alliance was signed at Paris, France, in 
February, 1778. The next summer the British aban- 
doned Philadelphia, and marched overland to New York. 
Washino;ton attacked them at Monmouth while on the 
march, but did not gain any advantage. 

125. Arnold's Treason. — Benedict Arnold felt that he had 
been badly treated by nearly every one. Congress had 
delayed his promotion, and Washington had been 
obliged publicly to reprimand him for his wrongdoing. 
He married a Tory wife, and fell into the society of 
Tories.^ He made up his mind to sell himself to the 
British, and obtained the command of West Point, the 
stronghold guarding the Hudson, to make his treason 
more valuable. The plot was discovered just in time to 
prevent its success. Arnold fled to the British camp ; 
but his British confederate, John Andre, was captured 
and hanged as a spy. 

1 Tories were those colonists who favored the British, or, at least were 
opposed to independence. They were sometimes called Loyalists because 
they were loyal to King George. 



ARNOLDS TREASON 



111 



DO NOT FORGET 

1. Washington and his soldiers passed a fearful winter at Valley 
Forge. 

2. Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga, 1777. 

3. The French entered into an alliance against the British. 

QUESTIONS 

1. What two things did the British attempt in 1777 ? 

2. Who fought against Burgoyne ? 

3. What did some Congressmen wish to do with Washington ? 

4. Who brought about the French alliance ? 

5. Tell the story of Arnold's treason. 



'v|"|iiii''^'^i-^ii'u'ir:. ^v\\nM'iTh 




^ V 1 R G 




Cape Fear 



Green's Southern Campaign. 



XVI 



SOUTHERN CAMPAIGNS 



126. Charleston, South Carolina. — In 1776 the British. Gen- 
eral, Clinton, sailed southward to conquer the Carolinas 
and Georgia. But he was not 
able even to enter Charles- 
ton harbor. The Carolinians 
built a fort of palmetto logs 
on an island and named it 
Fort Moultrie,^ for their 
leader, General Moultrie. It 
had only three sides, but 
those three sides were turned 
to the British vessels. On 
they came, firing away. 
Most of their cannon balls 
went over the fort into the 
water on the other side of 
the island ; some of them 
went plump into a swamp 
inside of the fort ; a few, better aimed than the rest, 
hit the palmetto logs and the soft punky wood closed 

^ Moultrie is pronounced at Charleston, Moo'tri ; in the North it is usually 
pronounced Mool'tri. 

I 113 




The Jasper Monument. 



114 SOUTHERN CAMPAIGNS 

over the iron balls, so that the fort was stronger than 
before. One cannon ball hit the flagstaff on which was 
the palmetto flag of South Carolina. Flag and staff fell 
outside of the fort. Quick as a flash Sergeant Jasper 
jumped through an opening, picked up the staff, and once 
more planted it on the parapet, or wall of the fort. Soon 
after this the British vessels turned about and sailed away. 
And that was the end of Clinton's first invasion of South 
Carolina. 

127. The End of General Gates. — Some years later General 
Clinton captured Charleston with its defenders. General 
Gates was then ordered by Congress to the South to resist 
the further advance of the British. Gathering all the 
soldiers he could find. Gates pressed on. Cornwallis, hear- 
ing of his approach, marched to surprise him. The two 
armies met in the middle of the night, near Camden, North 
Carolina. The British were veterans, while most of Gates's 
men were poorly trained. Hundreds of them fled even 
before the British were ready to attack them. Gates 
himself galloped off to the rear and kept on galloping 
nearly all day. Those of his deserted soldiers who stood 
fast were either killed or captured. Among the killed 
was General John Kalb.^ He came from Europe as a 
volunteer to fight for liberty in America. He received 
no less than thirteen wounds before he surrendered. 

^ This name used to be spelled De Kalb ; the correct spelling is Kalb. 



GREEN'S SOUTHERN CAMPAIGNS 115 

128. Greene's Southern Campaigns. — General Greene now 
came South to see what could be done to free that region 
from the English invaders. He was a great soldier and 
a man of brains. Instead of fighting in a regular way he 
did most unexpected things. He induced Cornwallis to 
divide his army and then beat one of the divisions. He 
then led tlie British a long march across North Carolina 
to the Dan River. He had made all his preparations 
for the move long before, and had collected all the river 
boats at one spot. In these he ferried his own men 
over, and then laughed at the baffled Englishmen. Not 
very long after this, when he had got together more 
troops, he suddenly crossed the river again, and took up 
a strong position near Guilford^ Court House. There 
Cornwallis attacked him. Greene fought him for a time 
and then retreated before Cornwallis had done him much 
injury. By this time the British were thoroughly ex- 
hausted. They left their wounded to Greene's care and 
marched to Wilmington, where they could be near their 
ships, and then they turned northward to Virginia. 
Greene, having in this way cleared North Carolina of 
the enemy, marched to South Carolina. Soon he com- 
pelled the British there to retire to Charleston. 

129. The French Allies. — While these things were doing 
in the South, French soldiers crossed the Atlantic to fight 

1 Guilford : gil'ford. 



116 



SOUTHERN CAMPAIGNS 



the British in America. Their leader was Rochambeau.^ 
He was a general in the French army ; but the king 
of France directed him to fight in America under Wash- 
ington's orders. The French soldiers wore beautiful 
uniforms and brought with them fine guns and other mili- 




Washington resigning his Commission. 

When the war was over, Washington appeared before Congress and resigned his 
commission as commander-in-chief. 

tary equipment. They had plenty of French silver and 
gold money. They paid for their food, firewood, and 
other things, and were very popular. There were also 
many Frenchmen serving in the American army. The 

1 Rochambeau is pronounced in French ro'shon'bo. 



PREPARATIONS FOR YORKTOAVN 117 

most famous of these was Lafayette/ He was a young 
nobleman and came over to America to fight for the cause 
of liberty without payment. Washington loved him as a 
son, and he looked upon Washington with the greatest 
love and admiration. 

130. Preparations for Yorktown. — In the summer of 1780 
another French army and a powerful fleet came to the 
coast of the United States from the West Indies. Wash- 
ington decided to unite all his armies — except that with 
Greene — and to capture Cornwallis, who had stationed 
himself at Yorktown in Virginia. It was a long way 
from the West Indies to the Chesapeake ; it was a long 
march from Newport and New York, where Rochambeau 
and Washington were, to Virginia. But Washington's 
plan of campaign was so carefully thought out that all 
these different forces reached Yorktown at almost the 
same time. What was even more important was the fact 
that Washington acted so skillfully as to deceive the 
British in New York ; they were actually expecting to be 
attacked at any hour, when he and Rochambeau were 
marching southward through Pennsylvania. 

131. Yorktown With all these soldiers gathered about 

him, and the French fleet controlling the Chesapeake, 
Cornwallis was fairly trapped at Yorktown. He made a 
good fight of it. But one night Washington ordered 

^ Lafayette in French is la-fa-yet'. 



118 



SOUTHERN CAMPAIGNS 



Lafayette to capture two forts at the end of the British 
line. This task was splendidly performed by two forces, 
— one American, the other French. Cornwallis saw that 



THE SIEGE OF % 

TOKKTOWN \ 




AM ERICAN FORC ES 



further resistance was hopeless, and surrendered his whole 
army. 

132. Peace. — There was not much fighting after the 
surrender of Cornwallis ; but tlie treaty of peace was not 
finally signed until nearly two years later, — September, 
1783. The British were willing to acknowledge the inde- 
pendence of the United States ; but the French and the 
Spaniards — for the Spaniards had now joined the French 
and Americans — wished to continue the war, because 
they hoped to drive the British out of Florida and Gib- 



THE UNITED STATES, 1783 119 

raltar. lu fact, the French and the Spaniards were so 
thoroughly selfish that John Adams and John Jay, who, 
with Dr. Franklin represented the United States in 
Europe, broke their instructions and arranged the treaty 
directly with the British without telling the French gov- 
ernment what they were doing. 

133. The United States, 1783. — By the treaty which they 
made, the United States extended westward to the Mis- 
sissippi and southward to the present state of Florida. 
Florida and Louisiana, west of the Mississippi, and New 
Orleans belonged to the Spaniards. Of the land belong- 
ing to the United States, only a little was settled beyond 
the present boundaries of the thirteen original states. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. After two attempts CHnton captured Charleston, South Carolina. 

2. Greene fought several wonderful southern campaigns. 

3. Washington and the allies captured Cornwallis at Yorktown, 
1781. 

4. The treaty of peace was signed in 1783. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Tell the story of Sergeant Jasper. 

2. What did Greene do in the South ? 

3. Tell the story of Yorktown. In what year was it surrendered ? 

4. What did Adams and Jay think of the French ? 

5. What was the territory of the United States in 1783 ? 



XVII 

THE CONSTITUTION 

134. New Governments. — When the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence was adopted, it was necessary to make new 
arrangements for government. The people of the several 
colonies which became states made new constitutions or 
voted to continue their old constitutions. Then Congress 
drew up the Articles of Confederation to provide some 
sort of government for the w'hole thirteen states. In this 
way the people struggled through the Revolutionary War. 
But when they had stopped fighting Great Britain, the 
people of the several states began to quarrel with each 
other. It seemed sometimes as if they might even fight 
one another. 

135. The Federal Convention. — It was clear that something 
must be done to put an end to this state of things. So a 
convention was held at Philadelphia. It was attended by 
the wisest and best men — with the exception of Thomas 
Jefferson and John Adams, who happened to be abroad 
as ministers to France and to England. Washington was 
president of the convention and Franklin was its oldest 
member. Of the younger men Alexander Hamilton and 
James Madison should be remembered, 

120 



WASHINGTON ELECTED PRESIDENT 121 

136. The Constitution. — The members of the Federal Con- 
vention were not at all agreed as to what was best to be 
done. Some of them thought that the Articles of Con- 
federation were good enough. Others thought that the 
Articles might be changed a bit so that they would 
do very well. Madison thought that an entirely new frame 
of government was necessary. He and those members 
who agreed with him finally carried their point. But 
when it came to drawing up the new constitution, they 
had to yield to three great compromises.^ One of these 
compromises continued the slave trade for a time, another 
practically gave slaveholders extra votes according to the 
number of their slaves, the tliird gave the states an equal 
voice in the Senate, whether they were large as Pennsyl- 
vania or small as Delaware. Without these concessions 
the Southerners and the small states would not have 
accepted the Constitution. 

137. Washington elected President. — As it was, Washing- 
ton was elected the first President of the United States 
with John Adams as Vice President. Washington ap- 
pointed Jefferson Secretary of State, Hamilton Secretary 
of the Treasury, and John Jay Chief Justice. In this 
way the new government began very well. It has gone 

* Compromise is a settlement which is reached by each of the parties to it 
giving up something which seems valuable in order to secure an agree- 
ment. 



122 THE CONSTITUTION 

on ever since under this constitution, adopted by the 
Federal Convention in 1787. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. The Federal Convention framed the Constitution in 1787. 

2. Washington was elected first President of the United States. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Who was president of the Federal Convention ? 

2. Who were some of its principal members ? 

3. What did the convention do ? 

4. Mention three compromises. 

5. Who was the first President of the United States ? 

6. Mention some of the leading men in the government, and tell 
the story of their careers to 1789. 



XVIII 

DANIEL BOONE AND GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 

138. The Winning of the West. — While these things had 
been doing in the old settled regions east of the Alleghany 
Mountains, brave and earnest men had been conquering 
from the Indians and the British that wonderfully rich 
territory which extends from the Alleghany Mountains to 
the Mississippi River. Of these early pioneers Daniel 
Boone led the most adventurous life. 

139. Daniel Boone's Boyhood. — The son of a Pennsylvania 
frontiersman, Daniel Boone grew up in the forest and 
camped out alone in the wilderness when he was only a 
little boy. None of the Boone family liked to have many 
people near them. As soon, therefore, as settlers became 
numerous in their part of Pennsylvania, they moved to the 
frontier of North Carolina. 

140. Daniel Boone visits Kentucky. — In 1769 Daniel Boone, 
with five companions, crossed the North Carolina moun- 
tains and from a hilltop saw with delight the beautiful 
country of Kentucky. In the vast forest which they 
traveled through they found everywhere wild beasts in 
great numbers. There were, for example, humpbacked 
cattle which were called buffaloes, or bison. These lived 

123 



124 



BOONE AND CLARK 



on the leaves of the cane or on the grass of the plains. 
Sometimes there were hundreds of them in one herd. 

141. Boone's First Escape. — There were Indians, too, in 
the forests. One day some of them suddenly rushed out 
of a thicket and seized Boone and his companion, — a 




BuONESBOROUGH IN WiNTKK. 



man named Stewart. For a few days Boone and Stewart 
remained quietly with the Indians, making no attempt to 
escape. But in the dead of night, as they were all lying 
around a great fire, Boone could not sleep. He deter- 
mined to escape. He touched Stewart and sat up. An 
Indian stirred. Down Boone dropped. Again he sat up. 



BOONE'S FIRST ESCAPE 125 

This time no Indian moved. So up lie and Stewart arose. 
They speedily regained their old camp, — only to find it 
deserted. What became of their comrades they never 
knew. Stewart was soon after killed by the Indians, but 
Boone seemed to bear a charmed life. For a time he 
lived in the woods, entirely alone, surrounded by Indians 
and wild beasts. He had no fear for himself, but he was 
troubled about his wife and children whom he had left 
behind in North Carolina. 

142. He founds Boonesborough. — In 1773 Daniel Boone 
brought his family and about forty other settlers over the 
mountains to Kentucky. Two years later he built a 
fortified village to which he gave the name of Boones- 
borough. For years he remained in Kentucky, fighting 
the Indians, hunting the wild animals, and cultivating 
the soil. Then the white settlers became so numerous 
around him that he moved away again across the Mis- 
sissippi River to Missouri, where he died at the age of 
eighty-five years. 

143. Other Famous Pioneers. — Other famous settlers in the 
lands west of the Alleghanies were James Harrod, who 
founded Harrodsburg in Kentucky, James Robertson, and 
John Sevier, who settled in eastern Tennessee. The most 
famous of all these early western settlers was George 
Rogers Clark, who conquered from the British the territory 
lying northwest of the Ohio River. 



126 * BOONE AND CLARK 

144. Early Settlements in the Old Northwest. — The Old 
Northwest is the name which is sometimes given to that 
part of the United States lying between the Alleghanies, 
the Mississippi, the Great Lakes, and the Oliio. At the 
beginning of the Revolntionary War the British held 
five posts in this region. These posts were Detroit and 
St. Joseph on the Great Lakes, Vincennes on the Wabash 
River, and Cahokia and Kaskaskia in the southwestern 
part of what is now the state of Illinois. There was 
a strong British garrison at Detroit ; but the southern 
posts were guarded only by their inhabitants. These 
were mostly Frenchmen, for these western settlements 
had been made originally by people of that nationality. 
The French settlers cared little for the British, and were 
not likely to defend themselves very strongly against the 
Americans. 

145. George Rogers Clark. — Colonel Clark was born in 
Virginia, but in 1777 he was living in Kentucky as one 
of her most successful settlers and Indian fighters. He 
made up his mind that these posts could be easily cap- 
tured. Going over the mountains to Virginia, he laid 
his plan before Patrick Henry, who was then governor 
of that state. Governor Henry agreed with him and 
gave him some ammunition and a commission to seize the 
posts. He also gave him money with which to pay the 
wages of any troops which he might raise. 



COLONEL CLARK CAPTURES KASKASKIA 



127 



146. Colonel Clark captures Kaskaskia. — With only one 
hundred and fifty men Clark set out to conquer this vast 
country. Proceeding with the greatest possible secrecy, 
on the night of July 4, 1778, he reached Kaskaskia. 
Surrounding the town, he broke into the fort and seized 




Backwoodsmen. 
This drawing was made by a traveling Englishman a few years later. 

the commanding officer. He then sent runners through 
the town ordering every one, on pain of death, to remain 
in his house. Before daylight he had secured every 
musket in the place. In the morning, Clark addressed 
the inhabitants. He told them that the American people 



128 



BOONE AND CLARK 



would be glad to welcome them as friends. At first a 
Roman Catholic priest was doubtful as to how he should 
advise the people. Finally he asked Colonel Clark if he 
would be permitted to perform service in his church. 
Clark answered that he had " nothing to do with churches 
more than to defend them from insult." So the priest 
advised his people to join the Americans. This they 
were very glad to do, and so, too, were the people of 
Cahokia and Vincennes. In this way Clark got posses- 
sion of the British posts. 

147. Clark's March to Vincennes. — The British governor, 
Hamilton, now bestirred himself. Marching from De- 
troit to Vincennes, he easily 
regained that town and 
fort, for Clark had no men 
to spare in its defense. 
He almost captured the 
American commander as 
the latter was returning 
from a dance. Winter 




CLARK'S 
'« CAMPAIGN 



then set in, and Clark, having escaped capture himself, 
determined to attack the British at Vincennes before 
reenforcements could reach them from Detroit, and be- 
fore they would expect to be attacked. Setting out in 
February, 1779, on their perilous march of two hundred 
and forty miles from Kaskaskia to Vincennes, the Amer- 



CAPTURE OF VINCENNES 129 

icans soon found the country everywhere overflowed. 
Before long, mdeed, they came to a place where for five 
miles they had to wade in water three feet deep. The 
nearer they got to Vincennes, the worse the way became. 
Frequently, indeed, the water was breast high, and some- 
times it was late at night before they could find a piece 
of dry ground on which to lie down and sleep. Their 
food now gave out, and in four days' time the soldiers 
had nothing to eat, except one deer which was killed by 
a hunter. Many of the men became so weak that they 
could not stand. 

148. Capture of Vincennes. — Everything has its end, how- 
ever, and at length the wet and hungry soldiers saw the 
lights of Vincennes. Clark at once issued a proclamation 
to the inhabitants. He ordered all "true citizens" to 
remain in their houses, while those who were friends to 
the king should join the " hair-buyer " general, Hamilton, 
in the fort. He called Hamilton a " hair-buyer " general 
because that commander had offered a reward for the 
scalps of Clark and his companions. To the Indians in 
the town Clark said that he only wanted them to remain 
quiet, while the whites settled their disputes between 
themselves. The inhabitants did as Clark ordered them 
to do, — not one of them went to the fort to tell the 
garrison that Clark was upon them. The British were so 
taken by surprise that when the first bullets came into the 



130 BOONE AND CLARK 

fort, they thought that the Indians were shooting off 
their muskets in a frolic. Soon tliey discovered their 
mistake, and the next day they surrendered. Governor 
Hamilton was taken to Virginia, and kept in jail for his 
cruelty to American prisoners who had fallen into his 
power. 

149. Importance of this Conquest. — George Rogers Clark 
led many expeditions against the Indians of the North- 
west, but- his conquest of the British posts was the most 
important event of his life. It was especially important 
because when it came to the making of the treaty of 
peace (p. 118) it was very difficult to know what to do 
with this region and with Kentucky and Tennessee. 
The Spaniards then held Louisiana, and the Spanish king 
did not like the idea of having men like Boone and Clark 
living so near the borders of Spanish America. The 
French king was the Spanish king's cousin. He told 
the British government that he and his cousin of Spain 
did not wish this great territory to become a part of the 
United States. Fortunately, however, the British were 
very anxious to end the war, and easily agreed that the 
territory between the Alleghany Mountains and the 
Mississippi River should belong to the United States. 
Besides, it would not have been easy to turn Daniel Boone, 
George Rogers Clark, and their brave and energetic com- 
panions out of the country which they had settled and 



IMPORTANCE OF THIS CONQUEST 131 

conquered. To these men, therefore, the American people 
owe a great debt of gratitude. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. Daniel Boone led the first settlers to Kentucky. 

2. George Rogers Clark captured the British posts in Illinois 
and Indiana. 

3. Because of these settlements and conquests the Old North- 
west became a part of the United States. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Where was Daniel Boone born ? Where did he die ? 

2. When did he build Boonesborough ? 

3. What region is included in the Old Northwest ? 

4. Who gave Clark his commission ? What other things can 
you say about this man ? 

5. Describe Clark's march from Kaskaskia to Vincennes. 



XIX 



THE SETTLEMENT OF THE OLD NOETHWEST 

150. The Ordinance of 1787. — At the end of the Revolution- 
ary War the old soldiers of Washington's armies and other 
settlers began to build houses and clear away the forests 
in the country northwest of the Ohio River. In the 
beginning the settlements grew very slowly. There were 
several reasons for this. In the first place, the new coun- 




Floating down the Ohio past Marietta. 
Notice the raft bearing houses and a horse and wagon. 

try was a long way off from the old settlements on the 
seaboard. In the second place, it was not clear under 
what kind of government the new settlers would live. 
In 1787 Congress made a law which is called the Ordi- 
nance of 1787, from the year in which it was made. 
In this law Congress promised those who should go 
and live in the Northwest Territory that they should 

132 



THE KUSH TO THE WEST 



133 



govern themselves as soon as possible. Congress also 
promised them that slavery should never be introduced 
into their new home. Led by Rufus Putnam, one of 
Washington's generals, a large party of settlers came from 
Massachusetts in 1788. They founded Marietta in what 
is now the state of Ohio. In the same year Cincinnati, 
farther down the river, was founded by settlers from the 
Middle states. 

151. The Rush to the West. — The colonists who built the 
first houses in Marietta and Cincinnati were only two out 




Early Cincinnati. 
From an old book. 



of many bands of settlers who came to the Northwest Ter- 
ritory. Before long, fleets of boats filled with settlers 
and. their goods were floating down the Ohio River. The 
Indians, seeing them go by, became thoroughly alarmed. 



134 THE SETTLEMENT OF THE OLD NORTHWEST 

This is not to be wondered at, as each white family living 
in their hunting grounds meant for the Indians the loss of 
land and food. The British authorities in Canada, too, 
did all they could to turn the Indians against the Ameri- 
can settlers. For one thing they told them that the treaty 
of 1783 was made only for a time. Moreover, they sup- 
plied the Indians with food, with firearms, and with gun- 
powder. The Indians attacked the American settlements ; 
they killed the settlers as they were floating down the 
river. General after general went against them, and 
either did nothing or were beaten. 

152. Wayne's Indian Campaign. — At length, in 1794, Gen- 
eral Wayne, " Mad Anthony Wayne " his soldiers some- 
times called him, marched into their country and followed 
them to their camp, six miles from a British fort, which 
was built on our side of the boundary line. Wayne or- 
dered his men to charge the Indians when they fired, so as 
to give them no time to reload their muskets, and then to 
shoot them as they ran. He also sent a force of cavalry 
to charge the end of the Indian line. Everything fell out 
as Wayne wished. His front line charged so vigorously 
that the Indians left their trees and ran ; the horsemen 
chased them to the walls of the British fort. This great 
victory gave peace to the frontier for many years. Even 
the British respected such good fighters, and again prom- 
ised to retire to their side of the line, and this time they 
kept their promise. 



QUESTIONS 



135 



DO NOT FORGET 

1. The Ordinance of 1787 forbade slavery in the Northwest Ter- 
ritory. 

2. Marietta and Cincinnati were foiuided in 1788. 

3. The Indians, with British aid, attacked the settlers. 

4. General Wayne conquered the Indians. 

QUESTIONS 

1. What did the Ordinance of 1787 promise ? 

2. What did Ruf us Putnam do ? 

3. Why did the Indians dread tlie coming of the whites ? 

4. Who overcame the Indians ? 



f^-'"^, 




XX 

PRESIDENT JEFFERSON 

153. Federalists and Republicans. — The two earliest politi- 
cal parties in our history were the Federalists, led by 
Washington and Hamilton^ and the Republicans, led by 
Jefferson and Madison. The Federalists had set the 
new government in motion. They had made many good 
laws, and had made the United States respected by foreign 
nations. But many people thought that the Federalists 
wished to establish a monarchy with Washington as king. 
These people called themselves Republicans because they 
wished for a republic. They elected Jefferson President, 
and he was inaugurated in the city of Washington, March 
4, 1801. 

154. The Louisiana Purchase. — The most important act of 
Jefferson's two administrations, which lasted until 1809, 
was the purchase of the country then called by the name 
of Louisiana. It included nearly all of what is now the 
United States between the Mississippi River and the 
Rocky Mountains, and also some land on the eastern 
side of the Mississippi near its mouth, especially the 
city of New Orleans, which was the seaport of the Mis- 
sissippi Valley. The settlers of Tennessee, Kentucky, and 

136 




President Jefferson. 



138 PRESIDENT JEFFERSON 

the Northwest Territory floated their produce down the 
Mississippi and its branches to New Orleans, and there 
it was placed on sea-going vessels and carried to the 
Atlantic states, or to the West Indies, or to Europe. 
Its possession was therefore necessary for the prosperity 
of the West. This purchase about doubled the area of 
the United States. The French had originally settled 
Louisiana, but at the time of the Revolutionary War it 
belonged to the Spaniards. It was now again in the 
hands of the French, and they sold it to the United 
States, 1803. 

155. Lewis and Clark. — Meriwether Lewis and William 
Clark, brother of George Rogers Clark, in the next year 
set out with a strong party to explore tliis great domain. 
No one knew exactly how far westward Louisiana ex- 
tended. President Jefferson, therefore, directed the ex- 
plorers to go across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. 
Rowing up the Missouri River day after day, week after 
week, month after month, they came to what is now the 
state of South Dakota. There, near an Indian village, 
they built a camp and passed the winter. 

156. Over the Rockies. — In the spring of 1805 Lewis and 
Clark bought horses of the Indians. With their brave 
companions they set off on the second part of their great 
journey. For a time they had plenty to eat, as the buffa- 
loes were so tame or so stupid that they waited for the 



TFIE MOUTH OF THE COLU:\IBIA RIVER 139 

hunters to kill them. Indeed, they were so numerous in 
one place that they blocked the explorers' path for a whole 
hour. Bears and rattlesnakes were frequently met with, 
but the mosquitoes were the most dreaded foe. As the 
party climbed higher into the mountains the supply of 
game began to fall off. Before long the explorers were 
compelled to eat their horses. Finally they had to eat 
roots and nuts and in fact anything that could be eaten. 
In August they came to a spring of cold water which 
formed the highest point of the branch of the Missouri 
which they had been following. Less than a mile away 
was another spring, the waters of which flowed west- 
wardly to the Pacific. 

157. The Mouth of the Columbia River. — Down this west- 
ward-flowing river the explorers went, first following its 
bank, and then in canoes made by themselves, they floated 
down its waters. The first river emptied itself into another 
stream, and that into another. But on they went until 
they came to the open sea. Captain Clark at first was 
delighted to hear the breakers. But after listening to 
them for nearly a month he wrote in his journaP that it was 
" 24 days since we arrived at the Great Western (for I 

^ Captain Clark did not spell very well. What he meant to write was 
that the waters of the Pacific were always foaming' and breaking with 
immense waves on the sands and rocky coasts, tempestuous and horrible. 
Trying to read this bad .spelling will show you how imj^ortant good spelling 
is. 



140 PRESIDENT JEFFERSON 

cannot say Pacific) Ocian as I have not seen one pacific 
day since my arrival in this vicinity, and its waters 
are forming and petially breake with emence waves on 
the sands and rockey coasts, tempestuous and hori- 
able." The great river down which they had come was 
the Columbia. Its mouth had been discovered years before, 
in 1792, by Captain Robert Gray in the good ship Columhia 
of Boston and had been named for his ship. The right of 
the people of the XTnited States to occupy the valley of the 
Columbia River rests on this discovery of Gray and this 
exploration of Lewis and Clark. Two years more saw 
the brave explorers back again on the Mississippi River. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. 1801, Thomas Jefferson became President. 

2. He bought Louisiana of the French in 1803. 

3. He sent Lewis and Clark to explore the country west of the 
Mississippi. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Why did the people distrust the Federalists ? 

2. Tell the story of Jefferson's earlier life. 

3. State the different owners of Louisiana. 

4. Who bought Louisiana for the United States ? Who explored 
it ? Compare it as to size with the present state of Louisiana. 

5. Who discovered the Columbia River ? Why is it so called ? 

6. In what year was Louisiana purchased ? 



XXI 

WARS ON LAND AND SEA 

158. Tecumseh^ and his Plan. — General Wayne's great .vic- 
tory^ over the Indians kept the savages quiet for some 
time. Probably they would have kept quiet for a longer 
time had not an enterprising Indian named Tecumseh 
urged them on to attack the whites. Tecumseh's idea was 
that the land belonged to the Indians, and that no one 
tribe had any right to sell land to the whites. He strove 
to unite all the Indians living to the east of the Missis- 
sippi into a great confederacy to resist the further settle- 
ment of the white people. 

159. General Harrison. — General William Henry Harrison 
was the son of Benjamin Harrison of Virginia who signed 
the Declaration of Independence ; he was grandfather of 
Benjamin Harrison who was a general in the Civil War 
and President of the United States. Indeed, the General 
Harrison who opposed Tecumseh was President himself for 
about a month, when he caught cold and died. He had 
been educated as a doctor, but he liked fighting much 
better than being a doctor. He served with Anthony 
Wayne in his great campaign against the Indians. He 

1 Tecumseh, te-kum'seh. ^ por Wayne's victory, see p. 134. 

141 



142 



WARS ON LAND AND SEA 



then became governor of Indiana Territory, and was still 
governor when Tecumseh began his plotting. Indiana 
Territory at this time included all of the Old Northwest 
except Ohio, which was now a state. 

160. Battle of Tippecanoe. — While Tecumseh was busy 




In thk Pilot IIousp: of a Western Steamer. 
This picture shows very well the winding oourse of the Mississippi. 



getting ready for a general massacre of the whites all 
along the frontier from the Great Lakes nearly to the 
Gulf of Mexico, General Harrison decided to attack the 
Indians of Indiana before they were prepared. So he 
gathered soldiers and marched to Tecumseh's village of 



GENERAL HARRISON 143 

Tippecanoe, which was near the junction of Tippecanoe 
Creek and the Wabash River. Tecumseh was away at the 
time, but his brother, who was a medicine man and was 
called " The Prophet," stirred the Indians to attack the 
soldiers in the middle of the night. He told them that 
everything was all right witli his medicine, and that the 
bullets from the muskets of the white soldiers would not 
harm them. A sentry, however, saw some of the Indians 
skulking in the grass and fired. The soldiers were on 
their feet at once. The first thing they did was to 
stamp out the campfires so that the Indians could not 
aim straight. Tlien when daylight came the Americans 
charged. They killed many Indians, set fire to Tippe- 
canoe, and marched away to their homes. When Tecum- 
seh returned and found all his great plans ruined, he fled 
to Canada and became a general in the English army. 
General Harrison fought against him in the War of 1812 
and, what was better, defeated him and his British allies. 
161. Why we went to War with Great Britain. — This con- 
flict is always called the " War of 1812," although it 
lasted from 1812 to 1815. There were many reasons 
why we declared war against Great Britain in 1812. 
For one thing, the British tried to stop our trade with 
the West Indies, and they did this in a very insulting 
way. Then, again, British war ships captured Ameri- 
can vessels sailing to France and to countries depend- 



144 



WARS ON LAND AND SEA 



Gnt on France ; for the British were then fighting the 
French. But the worst thing of all was the way in 
which British naval captains stopped American vessels, 
sent armed men aboard them, and took from them the 
best-looking seamen on the pretense that they were 
Britons ; this was called impressment. Finally the British 

grew so bold and insolent 
that they even attacked the 
Chesapeake, an American 
man of war, and actually 
impressed men from her 
deck. 

162. "Constitution" and 
" Guerriere." — We had only 
sixteen national war ships, 
and the British had nearly 
a thousand of all sorts. But the ships that we had were 
the best of their kind in the world. Of the sixteen, the 
Constitution'^ was probably the finest, and the British 
navy had no better ship of the kind. She was a 

1 The Constitution is now at the Boston Navy Yard. A roof like that of 
a house has been built over her. Why should we not repair her and use 
lier as a recruiting ship? Read Holmes's poem, Old Ironsides, before you 
answer this question : 

"Her deck, once red with heroes' blood, 
Where knelt the vanquished foe, 
When winds were hurrying o'er the flood, 
And waves were white below." 




a powderhorn from the 
" Guerriere." 




Krom a Photogravure. Copyright. 1896, hy A W Klson oc L3. 

THE "CONSTITUTION." 



THE WAR ON THE SEA 145 

frigate ; that is, she had one whole row of guns besides 
two partial rows. Her guns were the best carried by 
any frigate at that time. She was solidly built and at 
the same time w^as fast. At the very beginning of the 
war, when she was commanded by Captain Isaac Hull, 
she met the British frigate Guerriere,^ a vessel of her 
own class, and sent her to the bottom. Later on, when 
commanded by Captain Charles Stewart, she captured 
two British ships at one time. She was called Old 
Ironsides. 

163. ''The Essex." — The most wonderful cruise of all dur- 
ing this war was that of the Essex, commanded by Captain 
David Porter. She sailed into the Pacific, captured a 
whole fleet of British whaling ships, but was finally 
obliged to surrender to the joint attacks of two British 
men of war. Among the midshipmen on the Essex was a 
boy of twelve named David G. Farragut. He had on the 
ship a pet pig of which he was very fond. After the 
surrender, one of the British midshipmen took the pig for 
his own. Thereupon Farragut claimed the pig as private 
property. The British midshipman refused to give it up. 
Farragut challenged him, whipped him, and won back his 
pet. The surrender had made him feel quite sad ; but 
this victory, so it is said, made him look more cheerful. 
When Farragut grew up he became a famous admiral. 

^ Pronouuced ge-reh-air. 



146 



WARS ON LAND AND SEA 



164. The Burning of Washington. — On the land neither 
party gained much until at the very end of the war. 
The Americans invaded Canada and retired. The English 
tried to follow Burgoyne's route from Canada to New 
York and were forced back. They also sailed into Chesa- 




The Capitol at Washington. 
As it is at the present time. 



peake Bay, landed on the Maryland shore, and advanced 
toward Washington. At Bladensburg a body of soldiers 
was gathered to oppose them. But the Americans threw 
up no intrenchments and ran away long before the British 
were near enough to hurt them. The British then entered 
Washington. Admiral Cochrane, the British commander, 
personally saw to the setting fire to the public buildings. 



AMERICAN COMMANDERS 



147 



On the site of the destroyed Capitol a larger and finer 
building has been erected. 

165. American Commanders. — General Harrison also fought 
in this war, and defeated the British at the battle of the 
Thames. This victory followed the destruction of a 
British fleet on Lake Erie by an 
American squadron commanded by 
3,v Oliver Hazard Perry. Another general 





Perry at Battle of Lake Erie. 

In the midst of the battle Perry rowed from his flagship to another vessel. 



who won an important victory was Winfield Scott, who 
defeated the British at Lundy's Lane in Canada. Of 
all the commanders who earned distinction in the war, 
Andrew Jackson became the most famous. He won the 
last battle of the war which was fought at New Orleans. 
His life was so important and so interesting that it will 
be well to study it at length. 



148 WARS ON LAND AND SEA. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. An Indian chief named Tecumseh plotted to stop the further 
settlement of the West. 

2. General Harrison won the battle of Tippecanoe and ruined 
Tecumseh's plan. 

3. The unfriendly conduct of the British led to war. 

4. The American war ships won startling victories, as that of the 
Constitution over the Guerrih^e. 

5. The British burned Washington. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Say what you can about three Harrisons. 

2. Describe Tecumseh's plan. 

3. How did General Harrison interfere with his plans ? 

4. Tell about the battle of Tippecanoe. 

5. What was impressment ? 

6. What kind of a ship was the Constitution? 

7. What great admiral served on the Essex as midshipman ? 

8. Name the last battle of the war. 



XXII 

ANDREW JACKSON 

166. Andrew Jackson's Boyhood. — Andrew Jackson grew 
up in the backwoods of Carolina. His father and mother 
came from the North of Ireland. Two years after they 
landed in America Andrew Jackson was born. He went 
to school in a little log cabin, and to the same log cabin 
schoolhouse, at a somewhat different time, went John 
Caldwell Calhomi, who was also the son of Scotch-Irish 
parents from the North of Ireland. Andrew Jackson 
did not learn very much at school. Indeed, when he 
was grown up, he seldom wrote a letter of any length 
without making mistakes in spelling. Probably no great 
American had as little book learning as he. 

167. Andrew Jackson in the Revolution. — When he was 
thirteen years of age, the British armies marched into 
the Carolinas. Jackson's two brothers were in the 
American Army and gave their lives for their country. 
His mother, too, went to nurse American prisoners in 
a British prison ship in Charleston Harbor, and died 
of a prison fever. One day a British officer came up to 
Andrew Jackson, who had been taken prisoner, and, 
pointing to his own muddy boots, told the boy to clean 

149 



150 



ANDREW JACKSON 




General Jackson. 



them. Jackson replied that he was a prisoner, not a 
servant. Thereupon the officer pulled out his sword 
and cut the unarmed boy on his head and hands. 
Andrew Jackson carried the scars to the end of his 



JUDGE ANDREW JACKSON 151 

life, and never forgave the British for the loss of his 
mother and brothers and for their cruel treatment of 
himself. He hated the sight of a British redcoat. 

168. Judge Andrew Jackson. — In the years after the 
close of the war, he tried many different ways to earn 
his living. Finally he studied law and secured the 
appointment of prosecuting officer in the western dis- 
trict of Tennessee. In his new frontier home, his great 
qualities showed themselves. His will never found its 
match on that wild frontier ; his power to lead men was 
scarcely ever disputed. His business as a lawyer com- 
pelled him to travel from court to court along the 
border. In this way this tall, lank, uncouth-looking 
personage, with long locks of hair hanging over his 
face, and a cue ^ down his back, tied in an eelskin, became 
known in all the western part of Tennessee, and so too 
did his courage and unfailing common sense, his kind 
heart and fierce temper. When the time came to admit 
Tennessee to the Union as a state, Andrew Jackson 
was its first Representative in Congress. He was next 
elected United States Senator, and was then appointed 
a judge of the Supreme Court of Tennessee. Perhaps 
the most remarkable thing that he did in Congress was 
to vote against thanking President Washington for his 
lifelong services to America. 

^ Pronounced ku. This word is often spelled queue. 



152 ANDREW JACKSON 

169. Tecumseh and the Creeks. — One part of Tecumseh's 
great plan (p. 141) was to unite the Indians in the South 
with those in the Old Northwe.st, and together to turn 
back the white settlers who were thronging to the 
western country. The southern Indians, however, did 
not favor his plan ; at least, most of them did not agree 
with him. He was greatly disappointed, and on leav- 
ing he said that when he reached home again, he would 
stamp his foot on the ground and shake down all their 
wigwams. Not long after he left them, there happened 
to be a great earthquake which did shake down some of 
their wigwams. This made many of the Indians put faith 
in Tecumseh, and they suddenly attacked the whites. 
This was in 1813, in the midst of the War of 1812. 

170. The Massacre of Fort Mimms. — At the first alarm 
the settlers sought shelter iu several forts and more 
than five hundred of them fled to Fort Mimms. There 
they felt so secure that in the daytime they left the 
gates of the fort wide open. At noon, on August 30, 
1813, the drums called the fugitives to dinner. A thou- 
sand Indians who had been lurking near by rushed into 
the open gates of the fort, killed nearly all the whites 
— men, women, and children — and disappeared into 
the forest. These Indians were of the Creek nation 
or confederacy. The war which followed is called, 
therefore, the Creek War. The leader of the Indians 



HUNGER AND MUTINY 153 

in this conflict was named Red Eagle, but the whites 
called him Weathersford. 

171. Jackson to the Rescue. — Besides being a lawyer, Con- 
gressman, and judge, Jackson was also a soldier, and at 
this moment was at the head of the Tennessee militia. 
With his arm in a sling and his whole body racked with 
pain from a sickness, Jackson issued orders for the assem- 
bling of his men. On the march the pain in his body 
sometimes would so greatly torment him that he would 
bend down a sapling and hang over it like a rag until the 
pain was gone. His march from Tennessee to the Indian 
towns in Alabama was slow and painful, for the way was 
rugged and food was scarce. In the end, however, he 
swept down on the Indian towns, killed the Indians, 
and burned their houses. 

172. Hunger and Mutiny. — Then came weeks of starvation 
for his own men. At one time all that Jackson himself 
had to eat was a handful of acorns. The soldiers tried to 
go back to their homes, but Jackson would not let them, 
as he was determined to punish the Creek Indians so 
severely that they would never trouble the whites again. 
On one occasion, he used half of his men to prevent the 
rest from running away. On another occasion, he 
and a few officers held the men back. Finally, Jackson 
alone, with his arm still in a sling, faced the army and 
brought the soldiers to obedience. 



154 ANDREW JACKSON 

173. Battle of Tohopeka. — In the spring of 1814, Jackson 
had five thousand men in his command, inchiding a regi- 
ment of regulars. At Horseshoe Bend on the Tallapoosa, 
or Tohopeka, as the Indians called the spot, the Creek hos- 
tiles had built a long line of intrenchments, and defended 
the works with about nine thousand men. Stationing 
some of his soldiers on the opposite bank of the river to 
see that none escaped, Jackson stormed the fort. Over 
six hundred Indians were killed ; the rest either surren- 
dered or fled to Florida, where the Seminole Indians gave 
them shelter. The Creek War made Jackson the foremost 
man in Tennessee. He was appointed a major general 
and given command in the Southwest. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. Andrew Jackson was born in Carolina. 

2. He emigrated to Tennessee, became the first Senator from that 
state, and a judge. 

3. Jackson overcame the Creeks, 1814. 

4. He was appointed commander of the United States Army in 
the Southwest. 

QUESTIONS 

1. From what country came Jackson's father and mother ? 

2. Why did he hate the British ? 

3. Why did Tecumseh wish to unite the red men against the 
white men ? Why did the Creeks put faith in him ? 

4. What larger war was going on at this time ? 

5. Why was Jackson made major general ? 



XXTII 

ANDREW JACKSON, THE " HERO OF NEW ORLEANS " 

174. The Battle of New Orleans. — Jackson's most brilliant 
exploit as a soldier was the great victory at New Orleans 
in the War of 1812 with Great Britain. That city 
stands on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River on 
a long, narrow island. Only a few miles away is the 







Battle of New Orleans. 



salt water. Now Jackson built a strong breastwork 
behind a little canal or ditch extending right across the 
island from the Mississippi to a great swamp. Earth 
was not very plentiful in that region, so he used cotton 
bales, rubbish, and in fact anything he could get which 

165 



156 ANDREW JACKSOX, THE "HERO OF NEW ORLEANS" 

would stop a cannon ball. In vain the British stormed 
the weakest points on the line. Seven hundred British 
soldiers were killed and fourteen hundred were wounded, 
while on the American side only twenty-one were killed 
and wounded altogether. 

175. The Seminole War. — Jackson's next lighting was with 
the Seminoles in Florida, who had given shelter to his old 
enemies, the Creeks. Florida at that time belonged to 
Spain. The Seminoles and the fugitive Creeks found the 
boundary line very convenient. They would dash across 
it, kill and rob the American settlers, and then rush back 
to Florida, where American soldiers could not follow them. 
Jackson, however, felt a great contempt for the Spaniards 
and their boundary line. He pursued a party of fleeing 
Seminoles into Florida. The Spaniards at Pensacola 
objected to this proceeding, and Jackson seized Pensacola. 
He also hanged two British subjects, who, he thought, had 
aided the Seminoles. These actions of Jackson surprised 
the Spaniards greatly, and made them willing to sell 
Florida to the United States (1819). 

176. President Jackson. — " Old Hickory," as Jackson's 
admirers loved to call him, became the most popular 
man in the country. Several years later he was elected 
President. Thousands of his friends rushed to Washing- 
ton to secure government offices. Jackson promptly turned 
out of their places those officeholders who had not worked 



DANIEL WEBSTER 157 

for his election, and put his friends into the vacant offices. 
This method of rewarding one's pohtical followers is called 
the " spoils system." 

177. The South Carolinians and Jackson. — Led by John C. Cal- 
houn, the South Carolinians refused to obey certain laws 
of the United States, and threatened to destroy the Union. 
But Andrew Jackson, himself a Southerner, was President. 
He declared that the Federal Union must be preserved, 
and that the laws must be obeyed. He sent General 
Winfield Scott to Charleston with direct orders to fight, 
if necessary, but there was no fighting. The South Car- 
olinians felt that they would better wait awhile before 
they began to fight the United States — until the "Hero of 
New Orleans " was no longer President. 

178. Daniel Webster. — With Jackson in this conflict was 
Daniel Webster. He was senator from Massachusetts, 
but he was born in New Hampshire, and was a graduate 
of Dartmouth College. Since the death of Washington 
there had been no such striking figure in public life ; tall 
and large, with a great head and coal-black eyes, he 
deserved the title of the "godlike Webster." 

179. Webster's Greatest Oration. — It was in 1830 that 
Daniel Webster made the greatest of all his speeches. It 
was made in reply to an argument of Senator Hayne of 
South Carolina, so that it is often called " Webster's Reply 
to Hayne." In the ending Webster pictured himself as 



158 ANDREW JACKSON, THE "HERO OF NEW ORLEANS" 

on his deathbed, and said, " When my eyes shall be turned 
to behold, for the last time, the sun in heaven, may I not 




Daniel Webster. 



WEBSTER'S GREATEST ORATION 159 

see him shining on the broken and dishonored fragments 
of a once glorious Union. . . . Let their last feeble and 
lingering glance, rather, behold the gorgeous ensign of the 
republic . . . spreading all over in characters of living 
light, blazing on all its ample folds, as they float over 
the sea and over the land, and in every wind under 
the whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every 
true American heart — Liberty and Union, now and for- 
ever, one and inseparable ! " 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. Jackson defeated the British at New Orleans, 1815. 

2. He was elected President of the United States. 

3. He preserved the Federal Union. 

4. Daniel Webster's great reply to Hayne. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Describe the battle of New Orleans. 

2. Who owned Florida ? 

3. When was Florida purchased by the United States ? 

4. Why was Jackson chosen President ? 

5. What is the " spoils system " ? 

6. How did Jackson preserve the Federal Union ? 

7. Repeat the words of Webster's speech. 



XXIV 

ENGINES OF PROGRESS 

180. Difficulties of Settlement. — The settlement of the 
West proceeded slowly. The distances to be covered by 
the emigrants were great. There were scarcely any roads, 
and the currents of the rivers flowed slowly. Flatboats 
filled w^ith settlers, on their way to make new homes, 
floated down the Ohio River. Flatboats filled with the 
products of the new farms floated dowai the Ohio to 
the Mississippi. Immense wagons, sometimes drawn by 
oxen, carried the food, clothing, and tools of the first 
settlers from their homes in New England, or in the Mid- 
dle states, to Pittsbm'g in the Ohio Valley. It would 
have taken a very long time to settle in this manner 
the country west of the Alleghanies. Fortunately, how- 
ever, great changes in the art of transport were made 
in the first half of the nineteenth century. The great- 
est of these changes was the use of the steam engine 
to drive boats through the water, and to haul wagons 
over the land. 

181. Robert Fultcn. — The steam eno-ine was invented in 

o 

England before the American Revolution. Many attempts 
were made to use it to move boats. Some of the early 

160 



ROBERT FULTOX 



161 



steamboats would go through the water, but for one reason 
or another they could not be worked with profit, and there- 
fore were failures. Robert Fulton made the first success- 
ful steamboat. He was born in Lancaster County, Penn- 
sylvania. His father was an immigrant from Kilkenny in 
Ireland. As Robert Fulton grew up, he showed great 
talent for painting pictures. So he went to England, 
where lived Benjamin West, one of the great artists of 
the tune, who was also a Pennsylvanian. For many years 
Fulton lived in England and in France, meeting many 
people and making many friends. Among the latter was 
Robert R. Livingston, American minister at Paris, — he 




The " Clermont " on the Hudson. 
On her first voyage she had no covering over the paddle wheels. 



162 ENGINES OF PROGRESS 

who had negotiated the Louisiana Purchase. In these 
later j^ears Robert Fulton had been gradually tiu'ning 
from picture painting to inventing as a business. Among 
other things he invented an imder-water bomb to blow 
up ships of war. This bomb resembled closely some 
forms of modern torpedoes. He then in^'ented a boat to 
go under water. He called her a '^'plimger," and built one 
in France with a glass window in the bow, — this boat was 
named the Nautilus. In her Fulton remained under water 
for four hours at a time. 

182. The Steamboat. — All these things were interesting, 
but they were of no great use at the moment. Fulton 
then turned his attention to inventing a steamboat. His 
first boat was built in France. She was too weak for her 
engine. She broke in two in the middle and went to the 
bottom of the river. For years Robert R. Livingston had 
been on the lookout for a steamboat which would go. 
He felt sure that Fulton had the right idea, although 
his first boat had proved to be a failm-e. So he told 
Fulton to go on with his experiments and he would 
pay the bills. Robert Fulton now ordered the English 
steam-engine builders to make him a strong compact 
engine and send it to New York. He then went him- 
self to New York and built a good-sized boat, in which 
he placed the new engine to turn a pair of paddle 
wheels. He named her the Clermont, for the Livingston 



THE "CLERMOXT'S" FIRST VOYAGE. 163 

estate on the Hudson. But the people generally called 
her "Fulton's Folly." 

183. The "Clermont's" First Voyage. — In August, 1807, Ful- 
ton made his first run in the Clermont from New York 
to Albany and back. The distance between these two 
cities is about 130 miles. It took the new steamboat 
thirty-two hours to steam up the river and thirty hours to 
come down again. Her speed therefore was about five 
miles an hour, which would nowadays seem to be slow. 
But when the Clermont started from the wharf, people did 
not believe that she would go even one mile an hour. 
She not only steamed at the rate of five miles an hour, but 
she kept on making trips between New York and Albany. 
At first most people were too frightened at the noisy 
monster to ride on her. Gradually they lost their fears 
and began to use her as occasion served. In 1812, the 
first steamboat from Pittsburg arrived at New Orleans. 
A great step in the progress of the solution of the prob- 
lem of settling the West had been made. It was now 
easier to get about on the rivers and great lakes of the 
interior, but it was as difficult as it ever had been to get 
from the Atlantic seacoast to the western lakes and rivers. 

184. De Witt Clinton and the Erie Canal. — De Witt Clinton 
of New York conceived the idea of digging a canal from 
Lake Erie to the Hudson River. The distance was about 
350 miles, and the route of the canal in places was 



164 



ENGINES OF PROGRESS 



through the wilderness. Many people thought that it was 
perfectly absurd to think of digging so long a canal, much 
of it through uninhabited country. But Clinton persevered. 




On a Canal Boat. 

In 1825 the canal was opened for business. From one end 
of it to the other, at intervals of a few miles, cannon were 
stationed. When the water was let in at one end, the 
news was carried throughout the length and breadth of New 
York State by firing cannon. The Erie Canal proved 
to be a great success from the very beginning. Other 
canals were dug, and for a few years canal travel was 
very popular. It was much easier to sit on the deck of a 
canal boat than it was to walk or to ride on horseback. 
Before long, however, steam railroads began to be built, 
and the canals at once began to decline in importance. 
In one instance a canal was filled up with the earth which 
had been dug out of it, and a railroad was built where the 
water once had been. 



THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE 



165 



185. The Railroad. — Railroads had already been in use for 
some time. The earliest ones were two pieces of wood 
upon which the wheels of the wagons ran. These early 
railroads were used for wagons, or cars, carrying heavy 
loads, as stone or earth. On these first railroads the 
cars were drawn by horses or by cables. 

186. The Steam Locomotive. — The next step in progress 
was to make a steam engine which would draw carriages 
on a railroad. George Stephenson, an Englishman, made 
the first locomotive which worked at all well. The 
" Rocket," for that was the name of Stephenson's machine, 




An Early Railroad Train. 



was a queer-looking thing. It had a beam engine some- 
thing like the engine of one -of our paddle-wheel steamers ; 
but it was able to pull several carriages over the rails 
at a good rate of speed. The earliest railroad carriages 



166 ENGINES OF PROGRESS 

were simply stagecoaches with wheels fitted to rim on 
the railroad. These coaches were tied together with 
chains. When one of these trains of stagecoaches started, 
there was a terrible jarring and jolting, and when it 
stopped, the coaches banged into one another with a 
dreadful noise. It was a wonder that all the passengers 
in them were not badly bruised. 

187. Growth of the Railroad. — The first steam railroad in 
the United States was the Baltimore and Ohio. By 1832, 
seventy- three miles of this road had been built, and its 
fastest trains ran at a speed of fifteen miles an hour. 
Most of the earlier railroads connected a canal or a river 
with another canal or river, or with a lake. Indeed, the 
traveler in those days was scarcely settled comfortably on 
a railroad coach or a canal boat, or a lake or river steam- 
boat, before he would have to leave his seat and rush 
madly to secure another seat on another boat or coach. 
Before many years, however, the railroads began to be 
built alongside the canals. 



QUESTIONS. 167 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. Robert Fulton was born in Pennsylvania. 

2. He invented the first steamboat which would work. 

3. De Witt Clinton brought about the building of the Erie Canal. 

4. Trains were running on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad as 
early as 1832. 

QUESTIONS 

1. How did the early settlers transport themselves and their 
goods to the West ? 

2. Tell the story of Robert Fulton's early life. 

3. What three things did he invent ? 

4. Had there been earlier steamboats ? 

6. What was Robert R. Livingston's share in the enterprise ? 

6. What did De Witt Clinton do ? 

7. Tell the story of the railroad. 

8. How would you like to have ridden on an early train ? 



XXV 

THE EARLY COXTEST OVER SLAVERY 

188. Slavery in all the Colonies. — In colonial days there 
were negro slaves in all the colonies — in Massachusetts 
and New York as well as in Virginia and South Carolina. 
At the time of the Revolution, however, the people of the 
Northern states began to free their slaves, but the people 
of the Southern states did not set their slaves free. It 
happened in this way, therefore, that slavery slowly died 
out in the North while it continued to exist in the South. 
The Nortliern people disliked slavery so much that they 
would not settle in the Northwest Territory until Congress 
promised them that slavery should never be established in 
that region (p. 132). 

189. Eli Whitney. — In Westboro, Massachusetts, in the 
year of the Stamp Act, Eli Whitney was born. As a boy 
he was very handy with tools and was always making 
things of one sort or another. For one thing he made a 
fiddle which could be played upon. When he grew up he 
went to Yale College. He then got a place as a private 
tutor in Georgia. Now, it happened that General Greene 
had settled in Georgia after the Revolution. Eli Whitney, 

168 



THE COTTOX GIN 



169 



as a New Englander, naturally visited him. Mrs. Greene's 
embroidery frame was broken. Whitney mended it for 
her, and did the work so neatly that she suggested that 
he might make a machine to separate the cotton seed 
from the cotton fiber. 

190. The Cotton Gin. — To imderstand how Whitney's ma- 
chine worked we must study the cotton plant a bit. Each 
little cotton seed is attached to 
countless snowy white fibers which 
catch the wind, and so bear the 
seed long distances through the 
air. Neither seeds nor fibers can 
be used until they are separated. 
Whitney at once set to work and 
made a wheel with little wire teeth 
on its rim. This wheel worked 
through an opening between two 
wires. The opening was so nar- 
row that a cotton seed could not pass through it. As 
one turned the wheel the teeth caught the cotton fibers, 
tore them away from the seeds, and carried the fibers 
through the opening. With his hands a negro slave 
could clean one or two pounds of cotton a day. With 
one of Whitney's engines or gins, as he called them, a 
slave could clean one hundred pounds of cotton a day. 
This invention was made in the year 1794. 




A Cotton Plant. 



170 THE EARLY CONTEST OVER SLAVERY 

191. Results of Whitney's Invention. — The growing of cot- 
ton with slave labor now became very profitable. Negroes 
were imported from Africa and the West Indies. Slavery, 
instead of dying out, increased enormously in the far 
Southern states. The United States became divided into 
two sections : one section where the soil was free from 
slave labor, and a second section where negro slaves per- 
formed nearly all the labor. The dividing line between 
these two sections was the southern boundary of Pennsyl- 
vania (p. 39) and the Ohio River. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. Slavery existed in all the colonies before the Revolution. 

2. It died out in the North. 

3. "Whitney's cotton gin fastened slavery on the South. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Mention all the states in which slavery existed in 1776. 

2. Why was slavery forbidden in the Northwest Territory ? 

3. Tell the story of Whitney's invention. 

4. What resulted from this invention ? 



XXVI 

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 

192. His Early Career. — John Quincy^ Adams was the son 
of John Adams, second President of the United States. 
In his earlier life he had been American Minister to 
Russia, Prussia, Holland, and Great Britain. Later on, in 
the eight years when James Monroe was President, Adams 
was Secretary of State. In 1819, while holding that office, 
he made a treaty with Spain for the sale of Florida to 
the United States. In 1823, while still Secretary of State, 
he put into shape a most important statement which is 
called the Monroe Doctrine. Having done these things 
he was chosen President to succeed Monroe. 

193. Ex-President J. ft. Adams. — John Quincy Adams was 
President for four years. But in 1828 the "Hero of New 
Orleans " was chosen in his place. Adams retired to his 
family home in Quincy, Massachusetts. One day some 
voters in his district came to him and said that they would 
like to send him to the National House of Representatives, 
if he did not think that an ex-President would be degraded 
by holding the lesser office. Adams replied that "no person 
can be degraded by serving the people as representative in 

iQuiucy is pronounced Quiuzy. 
171 



172 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 

Congress, nor, in my opinion, would an ex-President of tlie 
United States be degraded by serving as a selectman of his 
town, if elected thereto by the people." In 1830, therefore, 
he was sent to Congress, and continued to- be one of the 
representatives from Massachusetts to the end of his life. 

194. The "Gag Rule." — By this time many good people in 
the North had come to the conclusion that the best way to 
limit slavery would be to abolish it altogether. These 
people were called abolitionists — the most famous of them 
was William Lloyd Garrison. They and the other oppo- 
nents of slavery kept sending petitions to Congress asking 
that slavery should be abolished, or at all events limited in 
some way. Mr. Adams presented petition after petition. 
The slaveholders were angry. With the help of Northern 
representatives they passed a rule to prevent the reading 
of these petitions. This was called the " gag rule." 

195. The Right of Petition. — Mr. Adams kept on present- 
ing petitions, however, although they were not read in the 
House nor printed in the Proceedings. Finally, one day 
he held a paper in his hand saying that it was a petition 
from negro slaves, and he wished the Speaker to rule as to 
whether it should be presented. There was a tremendous 
uproar at this statement. For three whole days the excite- 
ment was so great that Mr. Adams could not get a chance 
to say that in the petition the slaves prayed for the continu- 
ance of slavery. Again he presented a petition from aboli- 



TRIUMPH AND DEATH OF ADAMS 



173 




The Adams Houses at Quincy. 
J. Q. Adams was living in one of these houses when he was elected to Congress. 



tionists praying for a dissolution of the Union — for the 
abolitionists were aghast at living in the same government 
with slaveholders. This time his opponents spent nearly 
two weeks trying to find some means of expelling the ex- 
President from the House of Representatives, but Adams 
defeated them on every point. 

196. Triumph and Death of Adams. — Two years after this 
excitement Adams secured the repeal of the " gag rule." 
Possibly the slaveholders felt it to be of little use, as it did 
not in any way gag the " Old Man Eloquent," as Adams 
was now often called. Single-handed he had won the 



174 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 

first fight in the contest with slaveholders. Four years 
later, as he was rising to address the Speaker, he fell in- 
sensible to the floor of the House and a few hours later he 
was dead. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. John Quincy Adams, as Secretary of State, bought Florida for 
the United States. 

2. He put into shape the Monroe Doctrine. 

3. In the House of Representatives, he fought the slaveholders. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Who was J. Q. Adams's father ? 

2. Mention five offices held by the younger Adams. 

3. "What two memorable things did he do when Secretary of 
State ? 

4. How did he happen to be elected a Representative ? Name 
any ex-Fresidents now living. 

5. What was the " gag rule " ? Why was it so called ? 

6. Tell the story of Adams's last years. 



XXVII 

GENERAL GRANT's EARLY DAYS 

197. Texas and the Mexican War. — It seemed clear to the 
slaveholders that they must have more slave territory in 
the South, if the number of the slave states was to keep 
pace with that of the free states of the North. They 
therefore brought about the addition of Texas to the 
United States. Then they compelled Mexico to make 
war on the United States, and secured the addition of 
New Mexico and California. The generals who led the 
American armies into Mexico were Zachary Taylor and 
Winfield Scott. But in the army there was a young 
lieutenant who was destined to become a much greater 
soldier than either of them — in fact the most success- 
ful soldier of the New World, General Grant. 

198. The Tanner's Son. — Sometime about the year 1832, 
when General Jackson was President, a little boy of ten 
or eleven years might have been seen driving a pair of 
horses, with a load of passengers or goods, to Cincinnati, 
forty miles from his home. He must have been a very 
good, courageous boy, and a skillful driver to have been 
trusted so far away from home. His name was Hiram 
Ulysses Grant. His father was a tanner ; but the boy 

175 




Lieutenant U. S. Grant. 



GRANT AT CHAPULTEPEC 177 

hated the sight and smell of hides and tan, and was 
anxious to secure a good education. So his father procured 
for him an appointment to the United States Military 
Academy at West Point. 

199. He changes his Name. — When his trunk came home 
he looked at his initials in brass letters: H. U. G. He 
said they would never do, because the boys would make 
no end of fun of them. So he put the Ulysses first, 
U. H. G. When he got to West Point, however, he found 
that the appointment read, Ulysses Simpson Grant. 
Simpson was his brother's name, and they had been 
mixed up somehow. At any rate the name could not be 
changed without the consent of the Secretary of War at 
Washington. So Grant said that he had come to West 
Point to enter the army, and would come as U. S. Grant, 
if he could not come as U. H. Grant. The cadets at once 
called him Uncle Sam, but when they came to know him 
better they called him simply Sam Grant. 

200. Grant at Chapultepec. — Grant's first fighting w^as in 
the Mexican War. His fondness for horses and his early 
training as a teamster marked him out as the officer to 
have charge of the transportation. He was appointed 
quartermaster of his regiment, for in the army they call 
the officer in charge of the transportation, quartermaster. 
Now, in battles, it is not necessary or expected that the 
quartermaster should rush into the thick of the fight ; he 



178 



GENERAL GRANT'S EARLY DAYS 



can stay with his horses and wagons. But Grant thought 
his place to be in the very thickest of the fighting. In 
the storming of the hill fortress of Chapultepec,^ especially, 
he distinguished himself. With a few privates he dragged 




Grant at Chapultepec. 

a small brass gun up to the belfry of a church, and drove 
the Mexicans from their housetops. The general in com- 
mand at that point saw how effective the shots were, and 
sent Lieutenant Pemberton to bring the enterprising officer 
to him. 

1 Pronounced Cha-pool'ta-pSk. 



AFTER THE MEXICAN WAR 179 

201. After the Mexican War. — Although he had given 
such vahiable service, the silent, fighting, young quarter- 
master was not promoted, while other men, who had not 
done anything like what he had done, were made majors 
and colonels. For a time he served at a post in far-off 
Oregon, for by this time Oregon was a part of the United 
States. Then he resigned and tried to make his living as 
a farmer. Near St. Louis he built a small house which 
he named " Hardscrabble." He also did a great deal of 
teaming — hauling props to the mines and firewood to 
the dwellers in St. Louis. His health gave out, he 
abandoned farming, tried business for a time, and gave 
that up, too. Finally, his father gave him work in a 
branch of his leather business at Galena, Elinois. There 
Grant was living, making out bills, and selling leather, 
when the South Carolinians fired on Fort Sumter. Very 
different were the early surroundings and opportunities 
of Abraham Lincoln. 



180 GENERAL GRANT'S EARLY DAYS 



DO NOT FORGET 

1. General Grant was educated at West Point. 

2. He distinguished himself in the Mexican War. 

3. He resigned from the Army. 

4. He was a clerk in a store when the Civil War began. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Why did the slaveholders want more territory ? 

2. Name two generals of the Mexican War. 

3. Why did young Grant drive a team ? 

4. How did his name come to be U. S. Grant? 

5. What did the West Point cadets call him ? 

6. What did he do at Chapultepec ? 

7. Where was he when the Southerners fired on Fort Sumter ? 



XXVIII 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

202. Lincoln as a Boy. — The first Lincolns to come to 
America settled in Massachusetts near Boston. From 
that place Abraham Lincoln's ancestors moved first to 
Pennsylvania, then to Virginia, and then to Kentucky. 
In the last-named state the future President of the United 
States was born on February 12, 1809. His father was 
very poor and very restless, and seldom stayed long in one 
place. When young Lincoln was seven years of age, the 
family moved across the Ohio River into Indiana. There 
they built a " half-faced camp," or a shed with a loft, and 
open on the front to the rain and wind. In the loft, on a 
pile of leaves, the boy slept soundly after a hard day's 
work in the woods. It must have been very cold some- 
times in this half-finished house, although they hung 
skins over the open space. Oftentimes there must have 
been very little for the boy to eat, but the hfe agreed 
with him. He grew rapidly and became strong and 
rugged. After a year in the open shed the Lincolns built 
themselves a log house and lived more comfortably. 

203. Lincoln's Education. — Not very far from Lincoln's 
home was a log schoolhouse. There Lincoln learned to 

181 



182 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

read and write. In the long evenings at home, after tlie 
day's work was done, he would do sums on a board or on 
a wooden shovel with a burnt stick for a pencil ; or he 
would read in one of the few books which he owned. 
At one time he had as many as five volumes — the Bible, 
Pilgrim's Progress, ^sop's Fables, a history of the United 
States, and a life of Washington. The last book the 
earnest boy had secured by shucking corn for three days. 
Indeed, during these early years Lincoln never lost a 
moment. When he plowed in the field he carried a book 
in his pocket. The instant the horse stopped for a short, 
well-earned rest, out would come the book, and into 
Lincoln's head would go a new idea or two. When he 
was seventeen years old, he was six feet four inches tall, 
and could outwork and outwrestle any man in the neigh- 
borhood. But neither his learning nor his strength made 
him proud or overbearing. He was good-natured, he 
told the best stories that were told, and was very popular 
with all who knew him. 

204. Lincoln's Voyage to New Orleans. — When he was nine- 
teen years of age, Lincoln went out into the great world, 
and floated down the Ohio and Mississippi on a flatboat. 
A flatboat was a great scow with one or two decks. It 
was steered with long oars or sweeps, and floated with 
the current. Lincoln received eight dollars a month and 
a free passage home on a steamer for his labor and skill 



REMOVAL TO ILLINOIS 



188 



on the flatboat voyage. At New Orleans he attended a 
slave auction. The selling and buying of human beings 
troubled him greatly. He said to a companion, " If I 
ever get a chance to hit slavery, I will liit it hard." 




Lincoln writing by the Fire. 



205. Removal to Illinois. — About the time of his return 
from New Orleans Lincoln's father decided to move 
again. This time he went westward to Illinois and set- 
tled near the Sangamon River. There Lincoln helped his 
father to build another log house and to clear more land. 



184 ABRAHAM LIXCOLN 

He then set to work splitting rails to make a worm fence 
aroimd the new cornfield. Having done this, he split 
enough more rails to pay for a new suit of homespun 
clothes. With this work he left off earning his living by 
the labor of his hands ; he was now twenty-one, and could 
do as he pleased. 

206. Lincoln as a Storekeeper. — Abraham Lincoln first 
went to work in a grocery store. Later on he set up for 
himself in the grocery business. His partner was not a 
very good sort of a man, and the business soon went to 
pieces. Before this happened, however, Lincoln had won 
for himself the title of " honest Abe." He earned this nick- 
name by such incidents as the following : One day a poor 
woman called at the store and bought six ounces of tea. 
After she had gone Lincoln discovered that he had given 
her only four ounces of tea in place of the six ounces for 
which she had paid. As soon as he could he closed the 
store and carried the other two ounces of tea to the 
woman's house, which was miles away. At another time 
he gave a customer six and one quarter cents too little 
change. He walked three miles to return the money due. 
It was this strict attention to honesty and fair dealing that 
made the people trust him and call him '• honest Abe." 

207. Lincoln the Surveyor. — When Lincoln got through 
keeping store, he thought he might as well make some 
use of the book learnino; which he had o-ained with so 



LINCOLN AS A LAWYER 185 

much trouble. So he studied surve3ang, bought some 
instruments, and set up as a surveyor. Now surveying 
lands in the wilderness require^ some knowledge of the 
woods, a clear head, a steady hand, and accuracy at 
figures, — and these w^ere just the qualities which Lincoln 
possessed. He also acted as a postmaster for a time, 
served as private in the Black Hawk War, in which there 
was no fighting, and finally set up as a lawyer. 

208. Lincoln as a Lawyer. — Almost as soon as he opened 
his law office Lincoln's popularity and reputation for 
honesty brought him business. He always refused to 
defend cases which he knew to be bad. On the other 
hand, when he felt sure that a poor man was innocent of 
what was charged against him, he sometimes offered his 
services for nothing. The best-known case of this kind 
is that of Jack Armstrong, a wrestler whom Lincoln had 
laid on his back. Armstrong was accused of murder. 
Convinced of his innocence, Lincoln offered to defend 
him. When the trial came on, one of the witnesses stated 
that he saw the murder done and saw Armstrong strike 
the blow. In answer to a question from Lincoln he said 
that he could see Armstrong clearly in the moonlight. 
Lincoln at once produced an almanac and showed that on 
the night of the murder there was no moon. Of course 
the jury found Armstrong " not guilty," and he was set 
at liberty. 



186 . ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



DO NOT FORGET 



1. Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, February 12, 1809. 

2. He lost no opportunity for self-improvement. 

3. He became a lawyer and at once succeeded. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Trace the route of the Lincolns to Illinois. 

2. How would you like to live in a " half-faced " camp ? 

3. What books did Lincoln read ? 

4. What did he say about slaveiy ? 

5. Why was he called "honest Abe " ? 

6. What other great President was a surveyor ? 

7. Tell the story of the acquittal of Jack Armstrong. 



XXIX 

THE RUSH TO CALIFORNIA 

209 California. — It is time now to look for a moment 
at the territory which had been added to the United 
States at the close of the Mexican War. The most 
important portion of this new territory was California^ 




p^^^'^p-?-^?^ 






1 I'l'lM ' 



A Spanish Mission in California. 




which had very nearly the same boundary that the present 
state of California now has. When General Kearney and 
Commodore Stockton conquered the settled portion of 
California from the Mexicans, the inhabitants of that 

187 



188 THE RUSH TO CALIFORNIA 

region were mainly engaged in raising cattle, and in ship- 
ping their hides away to the New England states to make 
boots and shoes for the American people. These hides 
were carried around Cape Horn in sailing vessels. Rich- 
ard Henry Dana has described one of these voyages in 
the best sea book that was ever written. Its title is Two 
Years Before the Mast ; one of these days you will 
read it. 

210. Captain Sutter. — Among the prosperous farmers of 
California was Captain Sutter, an American. He held 
thousands of acres of land from the Mexican govern- 
ment. On these lands he grew great crops of grain. 
Captain Sutter's principal settlement or fort was near 
where the city of Sacramento now stands. He had a 
sawmill some distance away at Coloma on the American 
River. While enlarging a ditch to carry away the water 
from the mill wheel, James W. Marshall, who had charge 
of the work, discovered in the freshly turned earth specks 
of something that looked like gold. He collected a 
handful of these particles and took them to Sutter. The 
captain thought that they were gold. He carried them 
to San Francisco and made certain that the dust was real 
gold. Precisely at this time Mexico ceded California to 
the United States as one result of the Mexican War. 

211. The "Forty-niners." — When it became known in 
San Francisco that all one had to do to get gold was to go 



THE "FORTY-NINERS" 



189 



to Captain Sutter's fort, find a good place, and dig up the 
gold with a pickaxe and shovel, and then wash away the 
dirt with water, all the workingmen in California hastened 




\f^i&rf,^ 



A Rush to New Diggings. 

to the gold field. The crews of the ships in the harbors 
left their vessels and joined the workers on land. When 
the news reached the East, thousands of men left what- 
ever they were doing and started for California. Some 
of these men went across the plains and over the Rocky 
Mountains. They carried their goods in great wagons 
which came to be called " prairie schooners." Others 
bought or hired vessels and sailed in them around Cape 



190 THE RUSH TO CALIFORNIA 

Horn. Still others went in one vessel to the Isthmus of 
Panama, crossed that rugged bit of laud, and sailed in 
another vessel to San Francisco. The hardships endured 
by these gold seekers were often very great. Many of 
them died before reaching California ; others died before 
they had gained much gold. Of those who lived and won 
wealth, many ruined their health by the hardships of 
camp life. These early immigrants to California are 
known to history as the " forty-niners." In 1850 Cali- 
fornia was admitted to the Union as a free state. This 
was a terrible blow to the slaveholders, as they had fully 
expected that California would be a slave state. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. James W. Marshall discovered gold in California in 1848. 

2. In 1849 the rush to California began. 

3. California was admitted to the Union as a free state. 

QUESTIONS 

1. What was the principal industry of early California ? 

2. Who discovered gold in California, and when ? 

3. Tell the story of the " forty-niners." 

4. Did California become a slave state ? 



XXX 

LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS 

212. The Kansas-Nebraska Act. — A popular, energetic young 
lawyer was certain to get into politics sooner or later. 
Abraham Lincoln soon found himself a member of the 
legislature of Illinois. He even went to Congress for one 
term as representative. It was not until 1858, however, 
that his name became familiar to persons living outside 
of the state of Illinois. He suddenly became famous in 
this way. The slaveholders, it will be remembered, had 
been greatly disappointed in California, because it had 
been admitted to the Union as a free state. So Senator 
Douglas of Illinois brought in a bill opening to slavery 
that part of the Louisiana Purchase which was north and 
west of the state of Missouri. In 1820 Congress had 
declared that this land should be "forever free." But 
Senator Douglas said that this law was now dead. He 
proposed that the people of Kansas and Nebraska should 
have slaves or not, as they saw fit. 

213. " Bleeding Kansas." — The Free Soilers and slave- 
holders made a most determined struggle to seize Kansas 
and hold it for freedom or for slavery. Rich men 
in the North subscribed money to send northern settlers 

191 



192 



LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS 



to Kansas. The slaveholders did what they could to 
match each white free-soil settler with a white Southern 
voter. The first towns to be settled in Kansas were nec- 
essarily near the western boundary of Missouri. It was 
easy, therefore, for Missourians to gather near the boundary 
line of their state just before election day in Kansas, dash 
across the border, seize the voting boxes, and beat any 
free stater who dared to vote. The free state settlers 
were generally peaceable Northern people who did not 




A Kansas Sod House. 
The walls were built of sods cut from tbo prairie. 

know how to resist these " border ruffians" and " sons of 
the South." Some of the free staters, however, were 
quite as ready to shoot an opponent as was any slavery 
man. It fell out in this way, therefore, that living in 
Kansas in those days was not altogether pleasant. Some- 
times it happened that when a man was walking quietly 
in the street, suddenly he would be stopped and asked 
whether he was for freedom or for slavery, and be shot 



LINCOLN'S IDEAS 193 

dead on the spot if he gave an answer which the ques- 
tioner did not like. 

214. Lincoln's Ideas. — When a boy, Lincoln had seen 
slaves sold at i\(:'W Orleans, and had not liked the spec- 
tacle. As a man, he had seen slaves while visiting in 
Kentucky, his native state. The bloody warfare in Kansas 
now set him thinking. The more he thought about the 
matter, the more certain he l^ecame that unless some- 
thing was speedily done, the Union would be broken. It 
could not exist much longer half slave, half free. In 
1858 Senator Douglas came before the people of Illinois 
for reelection to the United States Senate. Lincoln saw 
that his time was come, for Douglas was the advocate of 
slave extension. Lincoln challenged him to debate the 
questions of the day before the people of Illinois, in seven 
different parts of the state, and Douglas consented. 

215. Lincoln and Douglas- — At the moment Douglas was 
one of the most prominent men in the country ; Lincoln 
was hardly known outside of his own state. Douglas was 
one of the most experienced and popular public speakers 
in the United States ; Lincoln was a fearless, accurate 
debater. Douglas was very short and stout, — people 
called him the "little giant"; Lincoln was six feet four 
inches tall, was very thin, and very plain. To hear these 
champions the Illinois farmers came from far and near. 
They brought with thern their wives and children and 



194 LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS 

camped on the debating grounds. The debates were held 
in the open air, and at each place thousands of per- 
sons listened. In the end Douglas was reelected Senator, 
but Lincoln had made a tremendous impression on the 
people who had attended the debates. His reputation 
spread far beyond Illinois. In 1860 the Republicans 
nominated Lincoln for President, and he was elected, — 
one of his opponents being Senator Douglas. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. The opening of Kansas and Nebraska to slavery brought on 
civil war in Kansas. 

2. Lincoln was aroused by the doings of the slaveholders in Kan- 
sas. 

3. He debated with Douglas on the slavery question, 1858. 

4. He was elected President, 1860. 

QUESTIONS 

1. What did the Kansas-Nebraska Act provide as to slavery ? 

2. How did the free-state people try to save Kansas ? 
, 3. What did the slaveholders do ? 

4. Describe the Lincoln-Douglas debates. 

5. What was the result of the debates ? 



XXXI 

SECESSIOJf 

216. A Divided People. — By this . time Northerners and 
Southerners were almost like two distinct nations. They 
disagreed on nearly every subject. The Southerners, for 
instance, thought that slavery was right and was neces- 
sary, — for them, at least. Furthermore, they believed 
that a state could secede or withdraw from the Union 
whenever it wished. The Northerners generally held 
that no state could secede from the Union. Some North- 
erners thought that slavery was wrong everywhere. 
Practically all the people of the North were determined 
that slavery should not be established in any free state. 
President Lincoln and the Republican party were strongly 
opposed to the extension of slavery to any part of the 
Union where it did not then exist. This was about the 
same thing as destroying slavery, because it was nearly 
certain that unless slavery were extended, it would slowly 
die out of itself or be abolished. The slaveholders saw 
clearly that this would happen if the Republicans carried 
out their policy. It was for this reason that the slave- 
holders opposed the election of Lincoln with every means 
at their command. 

195 



196 SECESSION 

217. Secession of South Carolina. — Nowhere in the South 
were people more certain that slavery was right and neces- 
sary than were the South Carolinians. Nowhere in the 
Union were people more agreed in believing that a state 
could secede whenever its voters thought fit. When 
Lincoln was elected, therefore, South Carolina at once 
voted to secede from the Union. Her young men had 
been drilling for a long time. They now hoisted the 
palmetto flag, or the state flag of South Carolina, and 
threw up fortifications to defend Charleston harbor. 

218. Fort Sumter. — In the middle of Charleston harbor, 
on an artificial island, the government was building a 
strong fort. It was named Fort Sumter for the South 
Carolinian Revolutionary general of that name, and was 
nearly finished. On Sullivan's Island, nearer the main- 
land, was Fort Moultrie, and Castle Pinckney, an Old stone 
fort, was on still another island which was near the city. 
Major Robert Anderson commanded a few soldiers of the 
regular army who were stationed at Fort Moultrie. There 
they were liable to a sudden attack from the mainland. 
One night, therefore. Major Anderson removed his men to 
Fort Sumter, where he would be more secure. There he was, 
hemmed about with secessionist batteries, when Abraham 
Lincoln was inaugurated President on March 4, 1861. 

219. The Bombardment of Fort Sumter. — President Lincoln 
had an idea that if everything could be kept quiet for 



198 SECESSION 

some time, most of the Southern people would cool off. 
Perhaps this idea might have turned out to be right, as 
was usually the case with Lincoln's ideas. But Major 
Anderson and his little garrison could not live without 
food while the Southerners were cooling off. At first the 
secessionists permitted him to buy food at Charleston ; 
then they refused to allow him to procure any more sup- 
plies on the mainland. It became necessary, therefore, to 
send him provisions by water. When the supply steamer, 
the Star of the West, attempted to enter Charleston harbor, 
the secessionists fired on her, although she flew the star- 
spangled banner. Then Lincoln ordered food and reen- 
forcements to be sent to Fort Sumter under protection 
of war ships. This attempt brought about a bombard- 
ment of the fort from the secessionist batteries (April 12, 
1861). Thirty-six hours later Major Anderson surrendered. 
220. The Call for Troops. — On the morning of April 15, 
President Lincoln issued a call for seventy-five thousand 
volunteers. Later on he called for hundreds of thousands 
more. From all parts of the North the volunteers hastened 
to the front as fast as they could, oftentimes singing a 
popular army song : — 

"We are coming, Father Abraham, 
One hundred thousand strong." 

In many a Northern town, city, and state, men had been 
busily drilling, while the secessionists had been building 



APRIL 19, 1861 



199 




" We are Coming, Father Abraham." 



batteries around Fort Sumter. These now sprang to 
arms and hastened to Washington. There was great need 
of them at the capital, as Washington was filled with 
secessionists. For years the slaveholders had been in 
control of the government. They had put Southern- 
ers into nearly all of the offices. Indeed, at that mo- 
ment, most of the clerks in the War Department w^ere 
secessionists. 

221. April 19, 1861 The first fully armed and equipped 

regiment to approach Washington was the Sixth Massa- 
chusetts. At Baltimore it became necessary for the sol- 
diers to march through the streets from one railroad station 
to another. Many of the people of Baltimore sympathized 



200 SECESSION 

strongly with the slaveholders. They attacked the troops. 
Before they could be driven off, several soldiers were killed 
and others were wounded. 

222. Secession. — Eleven states in all seceded from the 
Union. These were the states lying south of Delaware, 
Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri. The seceders joined 
together to form a new union which they called the Con- 
federate States. For a few weeks after the surrender of 
Fort Sumter, it must have seemed to the people living at 
Washington as if the whole government was going to 
pieces. Officers of the United States Army and Navy 
resigned and were allowed to go. At length, however, 
the secessionist senators, representatives, colonels, and 
commodores had all gone ; President Lincoln could begin 
to see upon whose aid he could rely. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. South Carolina seceded from the Union, 1860. 

2. The secessionists attacked Fort Sumter, April 12, 1861. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Why did South Carolina secede ? 

2. Why did Major Anderson surrender Fort Sumter? 

3. What did Lincoln do when he heard of the surrender ? 

4. What happened in Baltimore on April 19, 1861 ? 

h. What happened elsewhere on another nineteenth of April ? 
6. What states seceded from the Union ? 



XXXTI 

A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE CIVIL WAR 

223. The Fighting. — The fighting, which began with the 
attack on Fort Sumter, continued for nearly four years. 




Reading the Emaxcipatiox Proclamation to the Cabinet. 

Arranged from left to right the figures are as follows: Stanton, Secretary of War; 
Chase, Secretary of the Treasury; President Lincoln; Wells, Secretary of the 
Navy; Seward (sitting). Secretary of State; Usher, Secretary of the Interior; 
Blair, Attorney-general ; Bates, Postmaster-general. 

Millions of men served in the contending armies. Hun- 
dreds of battles were fought. In some of these battles 
more men were killed and wounded than fought in any 

201 



202 A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE CIVIL WAR 

battle of the Revolutionary War. The story of this great 
conflict is too long to be told in a little book like this. 
But every one should know something of the leaders 
who saved the Union and of the decisive battles of the 
war. 

224. President Lincoln. — The "Illinois rail splitter," as 
Lincoln was sometimes called, was now in the White House. 
Upon him fell the greatest care in this gigantic war, for he 
appointed the generals and the admirals, those who failed, 
as well as those who succeeded. At first it was very diffi- 
cult to pick out the best men. One reason for this diffi- 
culty was that very few officers had ever commanded 
large bodies of troops. Slowly the best men showed their 
abilities, and were given important positions. 

225. The Emancipation Proclamation. — Probably Lincoln's 
most important act, during the war, was the issuing of the 
Emancipation Proclamation. In the beginning the Presi- 
dent did not know exactly what to do with the negroes. 
It was his task, he once said, to save the Union. If setting 
the slaves free would help to save the Union, he would do it. 
At first, however, he was not at all certain that this would 
be the best thing to do. After the war had been going on 
for some time, it became evident that to free the slaves in 
the seceded states would deal a heavy blow to the seces- 
sionist cause. Lincoln, therefore, issued the Emancipation 
Proclamation, settino; free the slaves in the states then 



THE WORK OF THE UNION ARMIES 203 

resisting the Union armies. After the war an amend- 
ment to the Constitution abolished slavery throughout the 
United States. 

226. Colored Troops. — When the Emancipation Proclama- 
tion was issued, the enlistment of regiments of colored 
soldiers was begun. Some of these were Northern negroes 
who had always been free. But other regiments were 
recruited from the Southern slaves who fled to the Union 
lines. These colored regiments were commanded by white 
officers, of whom Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and Colonel 
Thomas Wentworth Higginson are the best known. 
Colonel Shaw was killed at the head of his troops in an 
attack on Fort Wagner at the entrance of Charleston 
harbor. 

227. The "Work of the Union Armies. — The work of the 
Union armies was very difficult, because the Confederates 
fought on the defensive and because the South was a very 
easy country to defend. In that region there were almost 
no good roads anywhere, and great stretches of forest and 
rough, uncultivated country offered the greatest obstacle 
to the invader and excellent protection to the defender. 
But when the secessionists, in their turn, invaded Mary- 
land and Pennsylvania, they at once found out that it was 
much harder to conduct an invasion, even in an open 
country like Pennsylvania, than it was to defend a wilder- 
ness like some parts of Virginia (p. 215). 



204 A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE CIVIL WAR 

228. The •' Merrimac." — The Southerners built several fine 
ironclads, for among the Southerners who resigned from 
the United States Navy, at the beginning of the war, 
were some excellent officers. The most famous of these 
vessels were the Merrimac, or Virginia, and the Tennessee. 
These two ships looked much alike, — each, had on its 
deck a house of iron. This was made with sloping sides 
like the roof of a house or a tent, with a flat top* The 
Merrimac came out from Norfolk, Virginia, and attacked 
the United States war ships which were anchored near 
Fortress Monroe. The shot from their guns rattled harm- 
lessly against her iron sides and rolled off into the water. 
Her shot tore to pieces the insides of the Union ships. 
She destroyed the frigates Congress and Cumherland. 

229. The " Monitor." — President Lincoln and his naval 
men had not been idle. They had called for plans of vessels 
to fight the Merrimac. One of the vessels to be built for 
this purpose was the Monitor. She anchored off Fortress 
Monroe a few hours after the Merrimac had sailed back to 
Norfolk after her first battle. The Monitor was invented 
by John Ericsson, an immigrant from Norway. Her deck 
rose only a foot or two above the water. On it was built 
a heavy, round house of iron, which was called a turret. 
In the turret were two huge guns which could be fired out 
of two portholes, placed side by side. The guns and the 
turret turned around, so that the guns could be fired 



"MONITOR" AND " MERRIMAC " 



205 



straight at the enemy and then turned away to be loaded. 
This latter was important because the guns were muzzle- 
loaders. When loading them, the end of the ramrod was 
thrust out of the porthole, which of course had to be open 
at the time. It is easy to see from this description, there- 
fore, that it was very important to be able to turn the 
turret around. 








DECK PLAN. 






Lnchor 


Pilot 


Turret Smoke- 


Blower 


Propeller 


Well 


House 


stacks 

The " Monitor." 


Pipes 


WeU 



230. " Monitor " and " Merrimac." — The next morning the 
Merrimac again came out from Norfolk to complete 
the destruction of the Union fleet. When she drew 
near, the little Monitor steered straight for her. The com- 
mander of the Merrimac was surprised to see this iron 
raft, with its iron house, steering toward him. He was 
still more surprised when the house turned around for 
a moment, two huge guns appeared, and two huge iron 
shot came crashing against the Merrimac s armor. He 



206 



A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE CIVIL WAR 



tried to send the strange ship to the bottom by running 
into her at full speed, but the Monitor did not mind 
this in the least. On the contrary, while the Merrimac 




"Monitor" and "Mekkimac." 



was touching her, the turret turned around, and two more 
shot smashed against the Confederate's armor. This 
time the Monitor s guns were so near that the crash 
was very unpleasant, and so the combat went on, until 
the Merrimac gave it up and steamed back to Norfolk. 
The Union vessels were saved. Many more turreted 
boats were built. They were called monitors from this 
first one. 



THE "ALABAMA" 207 

231. The " Alabama.'' — At the beginning of the war the 
people of the United States owned more ships than the 
people of any other country. These were almost all owned 
by the people of the North. The Confederates sent out 
vessels to destroy these merchantmen. They also bought 
vessels in England for this purpose, and one war ship was 
built there expressly to destroy American merchantmen. 
The name of this vessel was the Alahayna. She destroyed 
hundreds of Union merchantmen, and then sailed into a 
French port for repairs. There she was found by Captain 
Winslow of the United States ship Kearsarge. The 
two vessels were of about the same size and had 
about the same armament, except that the Alabama had 
English guns and some English gunners, too, to work 
them. But the men of the Alabama could not shoot so 
straight as those of the Kearsarge. In a short time the 
Confederate cruiser sank to the bottom of the sea. An 
English steam yacht then came up, rescued the Alabama's 
captain and some of her crew, and refused to hand them 
over to Captain Winslow. 



208 A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE CIVIL WAR 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. Lincoln freed the slaves in the Confederate States. 

2. The negroes fought in the Union armies. 

3. The Monitor turned back the Merrimac. 

4. The Kearsarge sank the Alabama. 

QUESTIONS 

1. What did Lincoln say that his task was ? 

2. Why did he free the slaves ? 

3. Who was Colonel Shaw ? 

4. Why was the defense of the Southern states easy ? 

5. Where was the Alabama built ? 

6. What ship destroyed the Alabama ? 

7. Describe the Merrimac and the Monitor. 



XXXIII 

ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

232. Farragut leaves Norfolk. — Not all of the Southern 
officers resigned from the Army and Navy of the 
United States at the beginning of the war. Among 
those to remain in the service was Captain Far- 
ragut (p. 145). He was then living at Norfolk with his 
wife who was a Virginian. He thought that secession 
was wrong, and said so, openly. His neighbors declared 
that a man with such sentiments as he expressed could 
not live in Norfolk. " Very well," answered Farragut, 
" I can live somewhere else." Going home he told Mrs. 
Farragut that she must decide at once whether she 
would remain in Virginia with her parents or go North 
with him. That afternoon Captain Farragut, with his 
wife and their son, left Norfolk for New York. 

233. Capture of New Orleans. — Farragut was not long 
idle. In 1862 he was given a fleet, made flag officer, 
or commander of the fleet, and ordered to capture New 
Orleans. His flagship was the sloop of war Hartford. 
She was a wooden ship of the old style, and carried 
broadside guns like the Constitution. In the darkness 
of a spring morning the fleet ran by the forts below 

p 209 



210 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

the city. Once the Hartford caught fire from a flam- 
ing raft which a little tug boat pushed against her. 
The ship's fire department speedily put out the blaze, 
and a shot from one of her big guns sent the tug to 
the bottom of the river. At another time the Hartford 
ran aground under the guns of the fort. She backed 
off slowly, and then, still more slowly, turned around 
and headed upstream again. During the whole time 
Farragut walked the quarterdeck. Every now and 
then he would look at a little compass which he carried 
at his watch chain. Once above the forts, the fleet 
steamed upstream to New Orleans. 

234. Mobile Bay. — One of the first things that Presi- 
dent Lincoln did after the war began was to declare the 
Southern seaports closed to commerce. He did this to 
prevent the Confederates getting arms, ammunition, and 
supplies from Europe. It was a difficult matter to en- 
force this order, because there were so many Southern 
seaports, some of which were especially difficult to 
guard. One by one these fell into Union hands, or 
were so carefully watched that few vessels could go in 
or out. One of the most important of these harbors 
and one of the hardest to watch was Mobile Bay. In 
1864 Farragut was ordered to occupy that seaport. 

235. Farragut enters Mobile Bay. — Lashing his ships to- 
gether in pairs, Farragut steered for the entrance of the 




The " Hartford. 



212 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

bay. A line of torpedoes extended nearly across the 
channel, leaving a small opening close under the guns 
of a Confederate fort. Captain Craven in the double- 
turreted monitor, Tecumseh, led the line. He missed the 
entrance. A torpedo exploded under the monitor, and 
she sank to the bottom bow foremost. Captain Craven 
and the pilot were in the pilot house. As the ship went 
down, they rushed for the entrance. " After you, pilot," 
said Captain Craven. There was no time for both of 
them to descend the ladder from the pilot house to the 
turret and escape to the deck through a porthole. The 
pilot alone was saved. 

236. Farragut says, " Go on.'' — When the Tecumseh went 
down, the next ship, the Brooklyn, stopped and began 
to back. Farragut was in the rigging of the Hartford, 
just under the maintop, with a rope around his body 
to prevent his falling, in case he should be wounded. 
When he saw the Brooklyn stop, he prayed for a mo- 
ment. A voice seemed to come to him, saying, " Go on." 
Putting the Hartford at full speed ahead, Farragut 
dashed over the torpedo line, the torpedoes knocking 
against the Hartford's bottom, but not exploding. The 
other ships followed and passed the forts and the tor- 
pedoes. As they went along, Commander Perkins of the 
monitor Cliickasaio could be seen through the smoke, 
dancing for joy on the top of the monitor's turret. 



THE END OF THE "TENNESSEE" 



213 



Once past the forts, Farragut signaled the fleet to 
anchor, that the men might have breakfast, but the 
Tennessee soon put a stop to that proceeding. 

237. The End of the " Tennessee." — The Confederate iron- 
clad, the Tennessee, was built after the manner of the Mer- 
rimac (p. 204), but she was much more heavily armored. 




The Fight with the "Tennessee." 

Admiral Farragut is in the " chains " (where the rigging joins the side 

of the ship) just after the Lackawanna has run into the 

Hartford. The Tennessee is seen alongside. 

She had a very poor engine, however, and was very 
slow and unwieldy. When Farragut saw the Tennessee 
approaching, he ordered the large ships and the monitors 
to attack her. The wooden ships fired their heaviest 
guns, and then ran into her at full speed. A shot from 



214 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

the Lackaivanna, while the ships were ahnost touching, 
smashed one of the Tennessee's port shutters. The sailors 
of the Lackawanna threw anything they could seize 
through the open port, even a holy stone, which was used 
to scrub the deck. Then the Lackaivanna, by mistake, 
ran into the Hartford, and cut her down to within two 
feet of the water. Farragut sprang into the chains, saw 
that his ship would float, and ordered her at the Tennessee 
again. Meantime the monitors were doing their best to 
disable the Tennessee. The Chickasaio, especially, took up 
a position at one end of the Southern ship, and fired shot 
after shot at one spot, until she had practically ruined that 
end of the Tennessee. Then, when the big ships were all 
ready to ram her again, the Confederate surrendered. This 
was Farragut's last fight. After the war he was made an 
admiral, and was the first admiral of the American navy. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. Farragut, a Southerner, remained true to the Union. 

2. He captured New Orleans. 

3. He occupied Mobile Bay. 

QUESTIONS 

1. What reply did Farragut make to the Norfolk people ? 

2. What was the name of his flagship ? 

3. What two great battles did he win ? 

4. Tell the story of Captain Craven and the pilot. 

5. What did Farragut do when he saw the Tectimseh go down ? 



XXXIV 

THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC 

238. The Army of the Potomac. — The soldiers who rushed 
to the defense of Washington were soon formed into the 
Army of the Potomac. Tliis army had many chiefs, 
McDoweh, McClellan, Bm^nside, Hooker, and, finally, 
Meade. It fought all over northern Virginia. Some- 
times it won ; more often it was defeated. But in victory 
and in defeat it was always a splendid army. It was 
after one of its worst defeats — in the battle of Chancel- 
lorsville — that General Lee led his victorious Confederate 
troops into Pennsylvania. Hooker, with the Army of 
the Potomac, followed him, always keeping between the 
Southerners and the city of Washington. Then Lincoln 
took the command away from Hooker and gave it to 
General Meade. 

239. Battle of Gettysburg. — Finally the two armies came 
together at Gettysburg. The Union forces held a very 
strong position on the top of a ridge. For two days Lee 
tried to drive them away. He did push back the left end 
of the Union line. But the only effect of this was to 
make the position of the Army of the Potomac more 
secure. More Union soldiers were all the time coming to 

215 



216 



THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC 



the front. Meade began the tlnrd day by retaking some 
of the positions from which his men had been earher 
forced to retire. 

240. Pickett's Charge. — Gathering fifteen tliousand men 
under General Pickett, Lee made one great eifort to 

destroy the Union Army. 
It was now the afternoon 
of July 3, 1863. Magnifi- 
cently Pickett and his men, 
who were mainly Virgini- 
ans, marched across the 
open space between the 
two armies straight for 
the center of the Union 
position. But the Army 
of the Potomac was ready 
for them. Sixty guns on the slope of the hill, behind 
the Northern line, poured canister^ into the advancing 
host. Then, as the Southerners drew nearer, the soldiers 
opened fire with their muskets. A few of the attackers 
reached the Union line to be killed or captured. Then 
all who could fled back to Lee's side of the valley. The 
next day the Southerners marched away to the Potomac 
and Virginia. 




BATTLE 

GETTYSBURG 



1 Canister: thin iron cans or cases filled with large bullets or small 
cannon balls. 




■'M 




IN THE THICK OF THE FIGHT AT GETTYSBURG. 



LINCOLN'S GETTYSBURG ADDRESS 217 

241. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. — A part of this famous 
battlefield has been reserved for a national park and 
cemetery. President Lincoln made an address at the 
dedication of the cemetery, November 19, 1863, which will 
always be memorable among the greatest speeches ever 
delivered in any country in any age. 

" Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this 
continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the 
proposition that all men are created equal. 

''Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that 
nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. 
We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to 
dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who 
here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether 
fitting and proper that we should do this. 

"But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate — we cannot conse- 
crate — we cannot hallow — this ground. The brave men, living 
and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our 
poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long re- 
member what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. 
It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfin- 
ished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly 
advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great 
task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take 
increased devotioii to that cause for which they gave the last full 
measure of devotion ; that we here higlily resolve that these dead 
shall not have died in vain ; that this nation, under God, shall have 
a new birth of freedom ; and that government of the people, by the 
people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." 



218 THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. In victory or in defeat the Army of the Potomac was always 
a splendid army. 

2. Commanded by General Meade, it won the battle of Gettys- 
burg, July 3, 1863. 

3. At Gettysburg, Lincoln delivered a famous address. 

QUESTIONS 

1. What soldiers were formed into the Army of the Potomac ? 

2. Upon what river is the city of Washington situated ? 

3. Name the successive commanders of the Army of the 
Potomac. 

4. What famous charge was made on the third day at Gettysburg ? 

5. What did Lincoln say that " our fathers " did ? 

6. What did the Union soldiers at Gettysburg do ? 

7. Who made Gettysburg consecrated ground ? 



XXXV 

GENERAL GRANT 

242. Grant reenters the Army. — The soldier of Chapul- 
tepec (p. 178) was given the command of an Illinois regi- 
ment, which had been very unruly under its former 
colonel. Grant soon had it in order, and marched out 
of Illinois to the defense of Missouri. His quiet firmness 
and military knowledge had attracted the attention of 
one of the Illinois representatives in Congress ; he 
secured for Grant an appointment as brigadier general. 
Grant was now sent to Cairo at the junction of the 
Mississippi and the Ohio. He tried to get orders to seize 
Paducah, a town at the junction of the Ohio and the 
Tennessee. No orders coming. Grant seized the town 
on his own responsibility only a few hours before the 
arrival of the Southern force. 

243. " Unconditional Surrender " Grant. — This enterprising 
officer soon came to be known as " Unconditional Sur- 
render" Grant, — a name which fitted his initials very 
well. He earned the name in this way : He was besieging 
the Confederates at Fort Donelson in February, 1862. 
The weather was stormy ; Grant's men were without 
shelter on the exposed hillsides, and they had not a great 

219 



220 GENERAL GRANT 

deal to eat. But the Union leader felt sure that he 
would capture the enemy if he could hold on for a day 
or two longer. Suddenly the Southerners attacked his 
right wing, and some of them were captured. Grant 
heard one of his men say to another, " They have come 
out to fight all day ; they've got their knapsacks full of 
grub." Grant opened one or two of the knapsacks and 
found that each soldier had food for three days. At once 
he said, " They are attempting to force their way out." 
He ordered an attack to be made all along the line. 
General Buckner, the Confederate commander, now asked 
for the terms of surrender. " No terms," was Grant's 
reply, " except immediate and unconditional surrender, 
will be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon 
your works." Buckner surrendered. 

244. Grant captures Vicksburg. — In 1863 Grant laid 
siege to Vicksburg. This town and fortress stood on a 
high bluff overlooking a long reach of the Mississippi 
River. The Union forces had opened hundreds of miles 
of the Mississippi from Cairo downward, and from the 
Gulf of Mexico upward. But Vicksburg had defied all 
their efforts. Grant attacked the town from above, and 
failed. He knew that he could not approach it from the 
Mississippi, because the bluff was so steep. Finally, he 
marched past Vicksburg on the other side of the river. 
He then crossed over to the Vicksburg side, many miles 



LIEUTENANT GENERAL GRANT 221 

below the town. This was a very bold thing for him 
to do, because it cut him off from all connection with the 
North. General Pemberton commanded the Confederates 
at Vicksburg. He had seen Grant fight at Chapultepec, 
and remembered his skill and activity. In vain he tried 
to battle with Grant outside of Vicksburg. He then 
shut himself and his army within his works. The Union 
soldiers besieged him there, and starved him into sur- 
render, July 4, 1863. In this campaign General William 
Tecumseh Sherman was Grant's ablest helper. 

245. Lieutenant General Grant. — At this time Grant was a 
major general of volunteers. He was now made a major 
general in the regular army, and given command of all 
the Union armies west of the Alleghany Mountains. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. Grant attracted attention by his military quahties. 

2. He captured Vicksburg, July 4, 1863. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Why was Grant appointed a brigadier general ? Why a 
major general ? 

2. What answer did he make to General Buckner ? 

3. From what side did he approach Vicksburg? 



XXXVI 

GENERAL SHERMAN" 

246. The Army of the Cumberland. — While the Array of 
the Potomac had been fightmg in the East and Grant had 
been campaigning in the Mississippi Valley, the Army of 
the Cumberland had been fighting in Kentucky and Ten- 
nessee. Its leaders were Buell, Rosecrans, and George H. 
Thomas. The last was a Southerner who had remained 
in the Union army when Lee and other Southerners had 
left it. He was a splendid soldier, and had won great re- 
nown at Chickamauga where he had saved the Union 
cause from disaster. Another brilliant leader in that 
army was Philip H. Sheridan. When Grant took com- 
mand of the Western forces, General Thomas and his 
men were blockaded in Chattanooga by the Confederates. 
Grant's first work was to release them. He got some sol- 
diers from the East, and brought up others under Sherman 
from Vicksburg. With this great force he overwhelmed 
the Confederates at Chattanooga. He was then made 
lieutenant general ^ and given command of all the armies 

^ The highest military rank in the United States is general. Then fol- 
low lieutenant general, major general, and brigadier general, in the order 
named. The grade of general was created by Congress for Grant. The 
commanding o^cer of the army is now termed lieutenant general. 

222 




Union Commanders. 

Arranged from right to left the figures are as follows: Farragut (sitting), Sheridan, 
Hooker, Hancock, Meade, Grant (sitting), Sherman, Thomas. 



224 



GENERAL SHERMAN 



of the United States. For the 
rest of the war lie campaigned 
with the Array of the Potomac, 
which continued to be led by 
General Meade. The command 
of the principal Western army 
Grant gave to Sherman. 

247. The "March to the Sea/' 
— Sherman first pushed the Con- 
federates back from Chattanooga 
to Atlanta. Then giving Thomas 
command in the interior, Sher- 
man, with sixty thousand sol- 
diers, set out to march through 
Georgia to the sea. There were 
hardly any Confederate soldiers 
in the far South to oppose him. 
His men marched slowly onward. 
As they went they spread out 
over the country for a space of 
sixty miles. Whenever they 
came to a railroad, they tore up 
the rails, heaped the sleepers in 
great piles, set fire to them, and 
heated the rails red hot. This 
made the rails curl up so that 




SHERMAN MARCHES NORTHWARD 225 

they could not be used again. If there was a tree near 
at hand, the soldiers would often wrap the hot rail around 
its trunk. In this way Sherman and his men wrecked 
the railroad system of the South, so that food could not 
be sent from Georgia to Virginia — except with the great- 
est difficulty. As Lee's soldiers were fed from the Georgia 
plantations, they were soon starving. 

248. Sherman marches Northward. — Sherman captured Sa- 
vannah a few days before Christmas, 1864. Early in 
1865 he was up and doing, and marched northward to get 
within reach of Lee's army, should it escape from Grant. 
Thinking that Sherman would march to Charleston, the 
people of that city carried their valuables, the money in 
the banks, pictures, and everything that could be moved, 
to Columbia. But Sherman marched straight on Colum- 
bia. While he was there or near at hand, a terrible fire 
broke out and destroyed an immense amount of property. 
How the fire began is still a mystery. Stationing himself 
at Goldsboro in North Carolina, Sherman awaited Grant's 
and Lee's movements. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. Grant overwhelmed the Confederates at Chattanooga. 

2. He was appointed " general " and given command of all the 
armies of the United States. 

3. Sherman drove the Confederates back to Atlanta, marched to 
Savannah, and then northward to the heart of North Carolina. 



226 



GENERAL SHERMAN 



QUESTIONS 

1. Who was General Thomas ? What other Southerner was 
given high rank on the Union side ? 

2. What great battle did Grant win with the Army of the Cum- 
berland and reenforcements ? 

3. Who led the reenforcements from Vicksburg to Chattanooga ? 

4. What did Sherman's soldiers do when they came to a railroad? 
Why was this important ? 

5. Where did Sherman's march to the sea end ? 

6. What northern point did his soldiers finally reach ? 




A Canteen. 

This was carried by a Union soldier in the Civil War ; it was almost 
destroyed by bullets. 



XXXVII 

GENERAL SHERIDAN 

249. His Early Career. — Among the younger men to 
attract Grant's attention in the battle of Chattanooga 
was Brigadier General Sheridan, one of Thomas's most 
famous officers. At Chickamauga, with Thomas, he had 
won the chief honors. Grant took Sheridan to Virginia 
with him and placed him in command of the cavalry. 

250. Grant's Campaign against Lee. — Grant and Lee fought 
one terrible battle after another. Each of these conflicts 
cost the lives of thousands of men. After each battle 
the Union army moved forward. " I propose," said Grant, 
" to fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer." Be- 
fore that time the campaigns in Virginia had been like 
the swinging pendulum of a clock ; from this time on, the 
swing was all in one direction. Behind their breastworks 
Lee's veterans felt the change. " Formerly," said one of 
them to a comrade, " the Yanks came down, fought a battle, 
and went North again. Now, the Yanks have been fight- 
ing battles for a month, and still on they come." At 
Petersburg, Lee's soldiers stopped, and Grant besieged 
them in their works all winter. 

227 



228 GENERAL SHERIDAN 

251. Sheridan's Ride. — While this siege was going on, Lee 
tried to make Grant let go his grip on Petersburg by 
sending a force to the Shenandoah Valley to threaten 
Washington. But Grant only sent Sheridan with a 
strong force to meet the Confederates, and held fast to 
his line in front of Petersburg. Sheridan pushed back 
the Southerners, and then one day left the army to consult 
with Grant as to his future movements. When he was 
at Winchester, on his way back, he heard the sound of 
guns, and knew that his men were fighting a great battle. 
In his absence they had been surprised in their camp and 
driven back. Sheridan mounted his horse and rode 
rapidly southward. As he neared the battle ground, he 
came upon men fleeing to the rear. " Face about, boys," 
he cried, " we're going back." They faced about, and 
followed their great leader. When Sheridan reached the 
front, he spent some hours in gathering his men and plac- 
ing them in order for battle. Then he rode along the 
line that all might see him and know that he was there. 
The army advanced, drove the Confederates from their 
camps, and utterly routed them. 

252. Lee abandons Petersburg. — By April, 1865, Lee's men 
were starving. Every day hundreds of them deserted to 
the Union lines to get something to eat. The Southern 
government was going to pieces. Confederate money, for 
example, was hardly worth the paper on which it was 



LEE SURRENDERS AT APPOMATTOX 



229 



printed. One day a little boy set out from Petersburg 
with a few newspapers and some peanuts and apples in 
a basket on his arm. He went along the Confederate 
lines, selling his papers and peanuts and apples to the 
soldiers. At night he returned to his home with $14,000 
in Confederate paper money in his basket. The next day 
Lee abandoned Petersburg and tried to escape from the 
Army of the Potomac. 




The McLean House. 
In this house the articles of surrender were drawu up. 



253. Lee surrenders at Appomattox, April 9, 1865. — Lee's men 
were great marchers, but now they had to stop to gather 
food wherever they could find any. Every now and then, 



230 GENERAL SHERIDAN 

too, they had to stop to fight, for the Northern soldiers 
attacked them on sight. Sheridan commanded the advance 
of the Union Army. He had with him a strong body of 
cavaky and a fine force of infantry. While the main 
body of the Army of the Potomac delayed the Con- 
federates at every opportunity, Sheridan pressed on as 
fast as his infantry could possibly go. At one place he 
seized a train load of food which had been sent to feed 
the Southerners. By the time he had reached Appo- 
mattox Court House, he had got right in front of Lee's 
army. He arranged his men in order of battle, the cav- 
alry dismounting in front, while the infantry took up 
a position farther back. The Southerners came up the 
road. The Confederate General Gordon saw the cavalry- 
men. He said that he could cut his way through any 
number of cavalrymen. As he advanced to the attack 
the horsemen faded away on either side, and in their stead 
was a long, blue line of infantry. The Confederates 
stopped where they were. A few hours later Lee sur- 
rendered his whole army to General Grant, April 9, 1865. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. Grant fought a terrible campaign through Virginia to Peters- 
burg. 

2. Sheridan routed the Confederates in the Shenandoah Valley. 

3. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, April 9, 1865. 



QUESTIONS 



231 



QUESTIONS 

1. Where did Sheridan attract Grant's attention? 

2. What did Grant say as to liis intention of fighting Lee ? 

3. What did Lee's veterans think of Grant ? 

4. Tell the story of Sheridan's ride. 

5. What does the story of the Petersburg boy tell ? 

6. Why did Lee stop at Appomattox ? 




Railroads and Rivers of the South. 



XXXVIII 

AFTER THE WAR 

254. Assassination of President Lincoln. — During all this 
time President Lincoln had borne the greatest burden. 
The deaths of thousands of the Union soldiers, the sick- 
ness and suffering of tens of thousands of the wounded, 
wore upon him until his kindly face became wrinkled and 
wan. But he always had a pleasant word for those who 
needed one ; he always had a bit of friendly comfort for 
those who were in trouble. On the evening of April 14, 
1865, four years after the surrender of Fort Sumter, he 
was murdered by a Southern sympathizer. 

255. " Let us have Peace." — The years which followed the 
close ■ of the Civil War were years of strife and bitter- 
ness for the Southern people. The question which now 
had to be settled was what should be done with the 
Southern states. Were they states in the Union ? Were 
they conquered territory ? What should be done with 
the freedmen ? On these matters men had many minds. 
Senator Sumner of Massachusetts thought one way. Gen- 
eral Grant thought another way. President Johnson disa- 
greed with them both, and the Southerners disliked any 
plan which found favor in the North. For eight years 

232 




President Lincoln and his Son. 



234 AFTER THE WAR 

after 1869 Grant was President. " Let us have peace," 
was his constant wish and advice. He knew what war 
was, and wished his countrymen to live happily together. 
256. Northern Prosperity. — In the North the years after 
the war were years of great prosperity. Long lines of 
railroad were built. These opened up vast regions to 
agriculture and connected the Mississippi Valley with the 
Pacific slope. Manufactures of all kinds were established 
and developed. Marvellous inventions made life pleasanter 
and labor more productive. The number of the Ameri- 
can people increased with astonishing rapidity ; in 1900 
there were living in the United States over seventy-six 
millions of people. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. Lincoln was murdered April 14, 1865. 

2. After the war Grant's constant wish was for peace. 

QUESTIONS 

1. What was Lincoln's bvirden ? 

2. What was Grant's advice as to the South ? 

3. What was the population of the United States in 1900 ? 

Note. — In one of the last years of the ceiiturj^ a World's Fair was held 
at Chicago. It was almost a fairyland of delight, its buildings and grounds 
were so beautiful. This was not the first great fair for one had been held 
at Philadelphia in 1876. Since the Chicago Fair similar exhibitions have 
been held at Buffalo and Charleston. Preparations are now being made for 
another one at St. Louis. 



XXXIX 

THE AGE OF ELECTRICITY 

257. The Uses of Electricity. — Nowadays we use electric- 
ity in so many ways that it is hard to think of our grand- 
fathers and grandmothers, sixty or seventy years ago, 
making no use of it, except as a curiosity. Men of 
science and of clear thinking had been working over 
problems of electricity ever since the time of Franklin; 
but it was not until 1844 that Professor Morse opened for 
business a long-distance, electrical telegraph, connecting 
Baltimore with Washington. By this invention he did 
more to change the history of mankind than did great 
conquerors — as Caesar and Napoleon. 

258. Professor Morse. — Samuel F. B. Morse was the son 
of a minister of Charlestown, Massachusetts, and was an 
artist by profession. One day, when returning from Eu- 
rope on the passenger ship Sully, the conversation at table 
turned on electricity and its possible uses. Dr. Jackson 
of Boston told about experiments which he had seen 
performed at Paris. At once Morse conceived the idea 
of combining the discoveries of different scholars and 
finding a practical way to use them to send messages 
by electricity. Toward the end of the voyage he said 

235 



236 THE AGE OF ELECTRICITY 

to the captain of the ship, " Well, Captain, should you 
hear of the telegraph one of these days as the wonder 
of the world, remember the discovery was made on 
board the good ship Sully T 

259. The Morse Alphabet. — Once on shore, Morse set to 
work to construct a telegraph line and instruments that 
would carry messages from one place to another. He 
was poor, and was obliged to make all his instruments 
himself. He had even to make the telegraph wire 
which he used in his experiments. He also had to in- 
vent a new alphabet for >the machine to talk ; for it 
talked only in clicks — long clicks and short clicks. So 
Morse made up a new alphabet which is still used. He 
took a young man, Alfred Vail, into partnership with 
him. Vail made a machine by which these clicks could 
be written on paper in long dashes and short dashes. 

For instance, stands for the letter /, - - for o, 

for d, - for e, which spells the word lode. The Morse 
alphabet is very easily learned, and is very useful for 
many things besides telegraphing by electricity. For 
example, when people are out camping, they can talk 
to each other as far as they can see by waving flags, or 
shorter distances by toots on a whistle — in each case 
using the Morse code. 

260. Alfred Vail. — There were so many difficulties in 
the way, and Morse was so poor that he might never 



SUCCESS AT LAST 237 

have finished his invention had not Alfred Vail become 
interested in it, and, what was more, interested his father ; 
for Judge Vail, the father, provided the money without 
which the invention could not have been perfected. 
Alfred Vail made a working model of the new invention, 
took it to Washington, and secured a patent giving to 
Morse and his partners exclusive right to the telegraph 
in the United States for many years. 

261. The First Message. — By this time Morse and Vail 
had come to the end of their money, and Judge Vail 
would give them no more. They felt so sure, however, 
that the telegraph would be of national value that they 
asked Congress to give them thirty thousand dollars 
with which to build a line from Washington to Balti- 
more. At first everything went well with the project, 
but, later, the Senate seemed likely to defeat the grant 
of money. Morse gave up the plan in despair. But, 
while he was eating his breakfast, before going to the 
train for the North, a message came that the bill had 
passed the night before. In 1844 the line was finished, 
and the first message which was sent over it was " What 
hath God wrought ! " 

262. Success at Last. — People were very slow to believe 
that messages could really be sent over the wire. They 
made all manner of fun of the telegraph, and would 
not send messages over it, although the first year mes- 



238 THE AGE OF ELECTRICITY 

sages could be sent for nothing. At length, one day, a 
convention was held at Baltimore to nominate candi- 
dates for President and Vice President. The conven- 
tion nominated Silas Wright for Vice President. Now 
he happened to be in Washington at the time, and Morse 
telegraphed the news to him. Soon came a message from 
Wright declining the nomination. The members of the 
convention, however, refused to believe it. They sent 
a committee to Washino-ton to find out the truth of the 
matter. When the committee reported that the tele- 
graph had spoken the truth, people were at last con- 
vinced that it could be trusted. 

263. Cables under the Sea. — If messages could be sent 
by wires across the land, why could they not be sent 
by wires under the water ? Morse at once began ex- 
periments to solve this question. He found that by 
coating the wire with pitch and other things he could 
insulate it ; that is, he could prevent the electricity from 
leaking off into the water. Short cables connecting 
land lines were soon built. Cyrus Field then conceived 
the idea of laying a cable under the Atlantic Ocean 
from Newfoundland to Ireland ; other cables could con- 
nect the ends with the United States m one direction 
and with England in the other. It turned out to be 
very difficult to lay a cable which would work and keep 
on working. There were so many difficulties in the way 



THE TELEPHONE 



239 



that the first successful Atlantic cable was not completed 
until 1866. 

264. The Telephone. — Perhaps the most wonderful of all 
the electrical inventions is the telephone, because it 




A Telephone Station. 

reproduces at one end of the wire the sounds uttered 
by the human voice at the other end. Alexander Gra- 
ham Bell, Elisha Gray, and other ingenious men were 
working on this problem at the same time. Bell has- 
tened more than the others and secured a patent.^ What 

^ Patent : a paper by which the government gives an inventor exclusive 
rights for several years. In this case no one could make or use a telephone 
"without Bell's permission. 



240 THE AGE OF ELECTRICITY 

happens with the telephone is this : When one speaks 
into the instrument at one end of the line, the waves 
of sound cause a diaphragm, or thin sheet of metal, to 
vibrate with great rapidity. These vibrations are repro- 
duced at the other end of the line, and cause a diaphragm 
in another instrument to vibrate with equal rapidity, and 
so to reproduce the sounds. 

265. Thomas A. Edison. — The inventor, whose name is 
most closely connected with electrical machines of all kinds, 
is Thomas A. Edison. He was born in Ohio. As a boy he 
sold newspapers on railroad trains. He then became a 
telegraph operator. He worked early and late and gave 
every spare moment to study. He bought a set of books 
on electricity, and rigged up a laboratory in his bedroom. 
Before many years, instead of being a telegraph operator, 
he was the adviser on electricity of a great telegraph com- 
pany. All this time he was busy inventing. Probably 
his most notable invention is the incandescent electric 
light. 

266. Trolley Cars. — Of all the uses to which electricity 
has been put, the most important, perhaps, is the driving 
of cars. These cars run through the streets of our cities 
and carry the people out into the country. , They are also 
lighted and warmed by electricity. The electric roads with 
their cheap fares make it possible for men and women and 
boys and girls to live in the country away from their 




EuisoN IN HIS Workshop. 



242 THE AGE OF ELECTRICITY 

working places. They also give the city dwellers a chance 
to visit the country, and to see the green fields, the floM^ers, 
and the trees. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. Samuel F. B. Morse invented the electrical telegraph. 

2. The first message sent was " What hath God wrought ! " 

3. Thomas A. Edison by his industry and ability becomes the 
leading electrician in the United States. 

QUESTIONS 

1. How did Professor Morse become an inventor ? 

2. Describe Morse's alphabet. 

3. What help did Alfred Vail give ? 

4. Explain what the telephone does. 

5. Tell the story of Edison's early life ? 

6. Why is the trolley car so important in our everyday life ? 



XL 

THE SPANISH WAR 

267. Cuba. — Off the Gulf Coast of the United States, and 
less than one hundred miles from the end of Florida, is the 
island of Cuba. This expanse of water between Florida 
and Cuba is swept by fierce gales and disturbed by a 
current, ever running eastwardly. As long as vessels 
were propelled by sails, Cuba, although lying so near the 
United States, was to all intents and purposes much far- 
ther away. With the coming of seagoing steamships, 
the conditions entirely changed. Nowadays a few hours 
only is necessary for a war ship to steam from Havana to 
the Southern ports of the United States. In case of 
a war, therefore, the possession of Cuba by a powerful 
enemy might be disastrous to the American people. 

268. The Cubans. — Since the day when Jefferson bought 
Louisiana the United States has had in mind the acquisi- 
tion of Cuba. As long as slavery existed, the people of 
the South were warmly interested in this question, for 
Cuba would have made a great slave state. After slavery 
had been abolished in the United States and in Cuba, the 
Southern people lost a good deal of their desire for the 
addition of that island. The people of Cuba suffered 

243 



244 THE SPANISH WAR 

greatly at the hands of the Spaniards. Instead of being 
allowed to manage their own affairs as best suited them, 
their whole lives were ordered for the benefit of the 
Spaniards, who continued to live in Spain. The idea 
seemed to be that a colonist lived and died for the purpose 
of supporting the inhabitants and government officials of 
the home land. Near the close of our Civil War, the 
people of Cuba rebelled against the injustice of the 
Spaniards. At times there was peace for a few years 
and then the struggle began again. 

269. The Destruction of the " Maine." — The American people 
saw with impatience these cruel scenes which were passing 
almost at their door. General Grant, when he was Presi- 
dent, told the Spaniards that they must treat the Cubans 
better ; and for a time they did so. Then they began 
again their old course of oppression. At length President 
McKinley warned the Spanish government that the 
patience of the American people was nearly exhausted. 
It seemed best to have a war ship in Havana harbor to 
which Americans living in that town might flee in case 
the Spaniards attacked them. For this purpose the battle- 
ship Maine anchored in the harbor in a position appointed 
by the Spanish authorities, and was there destroyed by a 
torpedo or something of that kind, February 15, 1898. 

270. War. — Congress now declared that the Spaniards 
must leave Cuba, and authorized the President to compel 



DEWEY ENTERS MANILA BAY 



245 




MoRuo Castle, Havana. 



them to go and to use force if that were necessary. Vol- 
unteers were called for, both for the army and the navy. 
Theodore Roosevelt was then assistant secretary of the 
navy. He longed to see active service against the nation's 
enemy. With the help of Dr. Leonard Wood he raised a 
regiment, which was composed mainly of cowboys from the 
West and college athletes from the East. Dr. Wood had 
been a surgeon in the army and knew something of war. 
He was appointed colonel of the new regiment, with 
Theodore Roosevelt as lieutenant colonel. 

271. Dewey enters Manila Bay. — The United States al- 
most always has a strong fleet of war ships on the coast of 



246 THE SPANISH WAR 

Asia. When the Spanish War began, Commodore Dewey 
had six vessels there, including his flagship Olymjjia. 
The fleet was lying at anchor off Hong Kong. Dewey 
was ordered to find the Spanish Asiatic fleet and to 
destroy it. He sailed from Hong -Kong, and soon made 
up his mind that the Spaniards were in Manila Bay. 
At night, with their lights carefully shielded, his vessels 
ran by the forts guarding the entrance of the Bay. Just 
as they passed in, the funnel of one of the steamers sud- 
denly glowed with flame. The forts opened fire on the 
ships, but it was too late to stop them. 

272. Destruction of the Spanish Fleet. — When day dawned, 
the Spanish vessels were discovered lying at anchor under 
the protection of the guns of the arsenal — a fortified 
position not far from the city of Manila. There were 
twice as many Spanish ships as there were American, 
but the Spanish vessels were smaller and were not up 
to modern standards. The story of the fight would 
probably have been the same had they been the most 
powerful ships in the world, for the Spanish gunners 
could not hit the American ships. The American gun- 
ners, on the other hand, were trained to hit what they 
aimed at. In a short time the Spanish vessels were on 
fire and sinking. Commodore Dewey then drew out 
of range to find out how much damage his fleet had 
suffered, to allow his guns to cool, and to rest and 



OCCUPATION OF MANILA 



247 



refresh his men. What was his surprise to find that 
no damage had been done to the American ships, and that 
not one of their crews had been killed. When every- 
thing was ready, he again stood in and completed the 
destruction of the Spanish fleet, May 1, 1898. 

273. Occupation of Manila. — Soldiers were sent from the 
United States to help Dewey and his sailors to seize 
Manila. About seven thousand miles of water rolled 
between San Francisco and the Philippine Islands, in 




A Philippine House. 



which Manila is the principal city. The soldiers had first 
of all to be gathered from different points and brought 
together at San Francisco. Vessels had to be provided 
and provisioned for the long voyage. It was some 



248 THE SPANISH WAR 

weeks, therefore, before troops began to arrive at Manila. 
Now, all this time, the people of the Philippines were 
rebelling against the Spaniards. They were, in fact, 
besieging Manila from the land side, while Dewey was 
blockading it on the water front. Under these circum- 
stances, the best thing for the Spaniards to do was to 
surrender to the Americans, and this they did as soon as 
the soldiers began their attack. 

274. The Defense of the Atlantic Coast. — There was never 
much danger that the Spaniards would attack the towns 
on the Pacific coast, and after Dewey had destroyed the 
Spanish fleet, there was no danger at all. On the 
Atlantic coast it was different. The Spaniards had a 
few very good ships, or ships that had been very good a 
few years earlier. With these some enterprising Spanish 
admiral might sail across the Atlantic, bombard a city 
or two, and sail away again before anything could be 
done to him. At least the people of the coast towns 
felt that something of the kind might easily happen. 
The government, therefore, stationed vessels of one sort 
or another in the principal ports, protected their chan- 
nels with torpedoes, and did what it could to look as if 
preparations were made to repel any force which the 
Spaniards might send. Commodore Schley, with a few 
good vessels, was stationed at Fortress Monroe, whence he 
could easily go to the aid of any threatened point. Acting 



SHAFTER AT SANTIAGO 249 

Rear Admiral Sampson, with the rest of another fleet, was 
ordered to blockade Cuba, to attack any Spanish squadron 
that might appear, and, in general, to do as much injury 
to the Spaniards as possible. 

275. Cervera's Fleet. — The Spanish Admiral Cervera, with 
four armored cruisers and three torpedo-boat destroyers, 
sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to America. Every one 
living on the seaboard expected that this squadron was 
aiming directly for his own town. In reality, Cervera 
was trying to get into a Cuban port without meeting an 
American vessel. His own ships were so out of repair 
and his supplies so scant that he could not do anything 
to harm our seaports. He first touched at the island 
of Martinique, which is nearly off the coast of South 
America, and later was discovered 'in the harbor of 
Santiago, a seaport on the southern coast of Cuba. As 
soon as it was clear that Cervera had no intention of 
bombarding any seacoast towns, Schley was ordered 
southward to help Sampson find and destroy the Spanish 
ships. At about the same time the splendid battleship 
Oregon reached Florida from Puget Sound on the Pacific 
coast. She also went to the help of Sampson. 

276. Shafter at Santiago. — When Cervera was at length 
found at Santiago, General Shafter with an army was 
sent to capture that city and drive the Spanish ships 
outside of the harbor, where Sampson could destroy them 



OCCUPATION OF PORTO RICO 251 

or capture them himself. Shafter found that his task 
was more difficult than at first it appeared to be. The 
soldiers first of all had to land on the open coast. 
Then they were obliged to march up steep hills and 
through thick tropical forests. If the Spaniards had 
been bold and daring, they might have delayed the 
Americans for a long tim-e. As it was, they retired 
to the vicinity of Santiago, and stationed themselves 
on two hills which were gallantly captured by the 
American army, — a part of which was led by 
Roosevelt. 

277. End of Cervera's Fleet. — By this time the Spanish 
government had become desperate. It ordered Cervera 
to go out of the harbor and to fight his way through 
the American fleet. This was a crazy thing to do, 
but he obeyed orders. Sunday morning, July 3, 
1898, the Spanish vessels were seen coming out of 
Santiago harbor. The American ships rushed at them, 
pouring upon them a perfect rain of shot and shell. 
One after another the Spanish ships were destroyed 
or captured. On the American fleet one man was 
killed and two were wounded. Soon after Santiago 
surrendered. 

278. Occupation of Porto Rico. — When the capture of 
Santiago was certain, an expedition was sent to occupy 
Porto Rico. The people of that island were so glad to 



252 



THE SPANISH AVAR 



see the American soldiers that they opened their cities 
and houses to them. The few Spanish soldiers on the 
island at first retreated, then at a strong position they 
were about to give battle to the advancing Americans, 
when news came of the end of the war. 

279. Treaty of Peace. — Some time afterward a treaty of 
peace was made at Paris. The Spaniards abandoned 
their American possessions and sold the Philippine 
Islands to the United States for twenty million dollars. 

280. The Murder of McKinley In November, 1900, 

William McKinley was reelected President, with Theo- 




McKinley's Home at Canton, Ohio. 



THE MURDER OF McKINLEY 253 

dore Roosevelt as Vice President. In September, 1901, 
the American nation was plunged into grief by the mur- 
der of President McKinley. He was visiting a great fair 
at Buffalo in the state of New York. While shaking hands 
with the people who thronged to greet the kindly chief 
magistrate, he was shot by an insane person, a young 
man, the son of immigrants from Poland. By his death 
Vice President Roosevelt became President. The day of 
the murdered President's funeral was observed with the 
greatest solemnity in the United States. For an hour 
people stopped their work, railroad trains stood still, the 
telegraph ceased to click. In England and in Scotland 
thousands of people attended services in Westminster 
Abbey and in other churches, to show their respect for 
the American nation in the hour of its sorrow. 

DO NOT FORGET 

1. The Spanish War was fought in 1898. 

2. McKinley was murdered September, 1901. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Why would the possession of Cuba by an enemy be disad- 
vantageous ? 

2. What event put an end to the patience of the American 
people ? 

3. Tell the story of Manila Bay. Of Santiago. 

4. How did Theodore Roosevelt become President ? 



INDEX 



Adams, John, 97, 102, 119, 120 ; Vice 
President, 121. 

Adams, John Quincy, 171-174. 

Alabama, the Confederate cruiser, 207. 

America, naming of, 12. 

Americus Vespucius. See Vespucius. 

Anderson, Major Robert, in Fort Sum- 
ter, 196. 

Andr6, John, 110. 

Appomattox, Lee's surrender at, 229. 

Army of the Cumberland, 222. 

Army of the Potomac, 215-217. 

Arnold, Benedict, 109, 110. 

Articles of Confederation, 120. 

Bahamas, discovery of, 10. 

Baltimore, Lord, founds Maryland, 36. 

Baltimore, Massachusetts troops at- 
tacked in, 199. 

Bell, Alexander Graham, 239. 

Boone, Daniel, 123-125. 

Boston, Mass., 51 ; evacuation of, 99. 

Boston Port Act, the, 88. 

Braddock, General, defeated by French, 
81-83. 

Bradford, William, 41-48, 54. 

Brewster, William, 42, 43, 

Buffalo, the, 18. 

Bunker Hill, battle of, 97-99. 

Burgoyne, British general, his cam- 
paign and surrender, 107-109. 

Cables, electric, under the sea, 238. 
Cabot, John, and his great voyage, 11. 
Calhoun, John C, 149, 157, 



California, acquisition of, 187 ; a state 
in the Union, !!)(). 

Cape Breton Island, discovery of, 11. 

Cartier, explores the St. Lawrence, 21, 
22. 

Cervera, Spanish admiral, defeated at 
Santiago, 251. 

Charleston, S.C, 38. 

Chattanooga, battle of, 222. 

Chesapeake Bay, 28 ; settlements near, 
29 ; map of, 29. 

Chickamauga, battle of, 222, 

Cincinnati, founded, 133. 

Clark, George Rogers, conquers the 
Northwest, 126-131. 

Clark, William, explores the West, 
138-140. 

Clermont, the, 161 ; first voyage, 163. 

Clinton, De Witt, and the Erie Canal, 
163. 

Cochrane, British admiral burns Wash- 
ington, 146. 

Columbia River, 139, 140. 

Columbus, Christopher, and his great 
voyage, 6-11 ; map, 4 ; flagship, 8, 9. 

Concord, battle of, 94, 95. 

Confederation, Articles of, 120. 

Congress, First Continental, 89, 

Congress, Second Continental, 97, 

Constitution, the, 121, 

Constitution, the frigate, 144. 

Convention, the Federal, 120, 

Cornwallis, Lord, 104, 114, 115; sur- 
render of, at Yorktown, 117, 118, 

Coronado, his expedition, 16-20. 



255 



256 



INDEX 



Cotton gin, the, 169. 
Creek War, the, 152. 
Cuba, discovery of, 10 ; the Spaniards 

in, 243 ; freedom of, 244, 252, 
Cumberland, Army of the, 222. 

Dale, Sir Thomas, 35. 

Declaration of Independence, 101-104. 

Dewey, Admiral, wins battle of Manila 

Bay, 245, 246. 
Dinwiddle, Governor, 79. 
Donelson, Fort, captured by Grant, 

219. 
Douglas, Senator, 191 ; debates with 

Lincoln, 193. 
Drake, Sir Francis, his voyage around 

the world, 23-25. 
Dustan, Hannah, 64. 
Dutch settlers, in the Middle Colonies, 

55-58. 

Edison, Thomas A., 240, 241. 
Electricity, age of, 235-242. 
Elizabeth, Queen, 25. 
Emancipation Proclamation, the, 202. 
Ericsson, John, invents Monitor, 204. 
Ericsson, Leif, discovers Wineland, 5. 
Erie Canal, 163. 
Essex, warship, 145. 

Farragut, David G., midshipman on 
the Essex, 145 ; remains true to the 
Union, 209 ; captures New Orleans, 
209 ; wins battle of Mobile Bay, 
210-214 ; admiral, 214. 

Federal Convention, 120. 

Ferdinand and Isabella, 7. 

Fields, Cyrus, 238. 

Florida, purchase of, 156. 

Fort Necessity, surrender of, 80. 

Fortress Monroe, 30. 

Forty-niners, the, 188. 



Franklin, Benjamin, preparation for 
life, 67-72 ; portrait of, 70 ; as a 
man of science, 72 ; helps Braddock, 
81 ; on committee of Declaration of 
Independence, 102; in France, 109 
110 ; and the treaty of peace, 119, 
in Federal Convention, 120. 

French alliance, the, 109. 

French and Indian Wars, the, 63-6(>- 
79-83. 

Fulton, Robert, 160-163. 

Gage, General, in Massachusetts,91-99. 

Gag rule, the, 172. 

Garrison, William Lloyd, 17. 

Gates, General Horatio, 108, 109, 
114. 

Gettysburg, battle of, 215-217. 

Gettysburg Address, 217. 

Gold, discovery of, in California, 188. 

Grand Caiion, the, 19. 

Grant, U. S., his early life, 175-179; 
portrait, 176 ; in Mexican War, 177; 
at Galena, 111., 179; reenters the 
army, 219 ; captures Fort Donel- 
son, 219 ; captures Vicksburg, 220 ; 
at Chattanooga, 222 ; lieutenant 
general commanding the armies, 
223 ; his campaign against Lee, 
227 ; captures Lee's army, 228-230 ; 
President, 332. 

Gray, Robert, explores Columbia 
River, 140. 

Great Plains, the, 18. 

Greene, General, 104, 105 ; his South- 
ern campaigns, 115; map of, 112. 

Guilford Court House, battle of, 115. 

Half Moon, voyage of the, 55. 
Hamilton, Alexander, 120, 121. 
Harrison, William Henry, general and 
President, 141-143 ; wins battle of 



INDEX 



257 



Tippecanoe, 142 ; in the War of 

1812, 147. 
Harrod, James, 125. 
Hartford, the, Farragut's flagship, 209, 

211. 
Henry, Patriclc, speech on Stamp Act, 

86 ; sends Clark to the Northwest, 

126. 
Hudson, Henry, explores Hudson 

River, 55. 
Hudson River, exploration of, 56. 

Ice Ages, 1. 

Impressment, 144. 

Independence, Declaration of, 101-104. 

Indians, the, 10. 

Indies, the, 8. 

Isabella, queen of Spain, 7. 

Jackson, Andrew, his early life, 149- 
151 ; portrait, 150 ; judge, represen- 
tative, senator, 151 ; in the Creek 
War, 153-154 ; major general in 
United States Army, 154 ; wins bat- 
tle of New Orleans, 155 ; in the 
Seminole War, 156 ; President, 156. 

Jamestown, Va., founded, 29 ; ruins of, 
31. 

Jasper, Sergeant, 113-114. 

Jay, Chief Justice John, 119, 121. 

Jefferson, Thomas, writes Declaration 
of Independence, 100-103 ; minister 
to France, 120 ; Secretary of State, 
121 ; President, 136 ; purchases Lou- 
isiana, 136 ; portrait of, 137 ; sends 
Lewis and Clark to the West, 138. 

Kansas, conflict in, 191. 
Kansas-Nebraska Act, 191. 
Kaska.skla, capture, 127. 
Kearsarge, American warship, de- 
stroys the Alabama, 207. 



Kentucky, Daniel Boone in, 123. 
Kieft, William, 57. 

Lafayette, French marquis, 117, 118. 

Landing of the Pilgrims, 45. 

Lee, Confederate general, 215, 216, 
227-230. 

Leif Ericsson discovers Wineland, 5. 

Lewis and Clark, exploration of the 
West, 138-140. 

Lewis, Meriwether, explores the West, 
138-140. 

Lexington, battle of, 92-94. 

Leyden, the Pilgrims at, 43. 

Lincoln, Abraham, his early life, 181- 
185 ; in Illinois, 183 ; a surveyor, 
184 ; and slavery, 193 ; debates 
with Douglas, 193 ; President, 194 ; 
his policy as to slavery, 195 ; calls 
for volunteers, 198 ; his Emancipa- 
tion Proclamation, 202 ; his Gettys- 
burg address, 217 ; his death, 232 ; 
portrait, 233. 

Lincoln, General Benjamin, 108. 

Livingston, Robert R., 102 ; aids Ful- 
ton, 161. 

Locomotive, the, 165. 

Long Island, battle of, 104. 

Louisburg, Cape Breton Island, 65. 

Louisiana Purchase, 136. 

McKinley, President, 244, 252. 

Madison, James, 120. 

Magellan, 21. 

Maine, battleship, destruction of, 

244. 
Manila, occupied by American troops, 

247. 
March to Sea, 224. 
Marietta, founded, 133. 
Marshall, James W., discovers gold in 

California, 188. 



258 



INDEX 



Maryland, settlement of, 36, 37 ; map 

of, 36. 
Mason and Dixon's line, 39. 
Massachusetts, settlement of, 50-53 ; 

education, 52. 
Massasoit, 49. 

Mayflower, the, voyage of, 44. 
Meade, General George D., 215-217, 

224. 
Merrimac, the, 204 ; and the Monitor, 

205. 
Mexican War, 175. 
Middle Colonies, founding of, 55-61. 
Mimms, Fort, massacre of, 152. 
Minutemen, the, 91. 
Mississippi River, seen by De Soto, 15. 
Mobile Bay, battle of, 210. 
Monitor, the, 204 ; and the Merrimac, 

205. 
Monroe, James, 171. 
Montreal, 22, 23. 
Morgan, Daniel, 108. 
Morse, Professor Samuel F. B., invents 

the electric telegraph, 235-238. 
Moultrie, General, 113. 

New Amsterdam, later New York, 
founded, 56. 

New England, founding of, 41-54. 

New Netherland, settlement of, 56 ; 
conquered by English, 58. 

New Orleans, bought by United States, 
136, 138; battle of, 155; captured 
by Farragut, 209. 

New World, 6-12 ; named America, 12. 

New York, city of (at first New Am- 
sterdam), settlement of, 56 ; English 
conquest of, 58; Washington's re- 
treat from, 104. 

Newport News, 30. 

Newport, Sir Christopher, in Virginia, 
28-30 ; ships of his time, 28. 



North Carolina, first settlement in, 27, 

37. 
Northmen, the, 5. 
Northwest, conquest of, 126-131 ; ter 

ritory of the, 132-134. 

Ohio, settlement of, 133. 
Ordinance of 1787, 132. 
Oregon, battleship, 249, 250. 

Parker, Captain John, 94. 

Penn, William, 59-61 ; and the Indians, 

60. 
Pennsylvania, settlement of, 59-61. 
Pepperell, Major William, 65. 
Perry, Oliver Hazard, wins battle of 

Lake Erie, 147. 
Petition, Right of, 172. 
Philadelphia, British in, 107. 
Philippine Islands, acquisition of, 252. 
Pilgrims, the, 41-50; the landing of, 

45 ; hardships of, 46. 
Plymouth, Pilgrims at, 46. 
Plymouth Rock, 47. 
Pocahontas, and Captain John Smith, 

32 ; marries John Rolfe, 34. 
Poor Richard's Almanac, 71. 
Porter, Captain David, 145. 
Porto Rico, occupation of, 251. 
Potomac, Army of the, 215-217. 
Powhatan, 30. 
Prescott, Colonel, 98. 
Pueblos, the, 16-18. 
Putnam, Rufus, founds Marietta, 133. 

Quakers, the, in Pennsylvania, 59-61. 
Quebec, 22, 23. 

Railroad, the, 165. 

Ralegh, Sir Walter, 27. 

Revere, Paul, 92. 

Revolutionary War, 92-119, 126-129. 



INDEX 



259 



Roanoke Island, 27. 
Robertson, James, 125. 
Rocliambeau, French general, 116. 
Rolfe, John, 34. 

Roosevelt, Theodore, and the Spanish 
' War, 245 ; Vice President and Presi- 
dent, 253. 

St. Lawrence River, 21. 

Sampson, Rear Admiral, in Spanish 

War, 248-251. 
San Domingo, discovery of, 11. 
Santiago, battle of, 249. 
Schenectady, attack on, 63. 
Schley, Commodore, in Spanish War, 

248-251. 
Schuyler, General, 108. 
Scott, Winfield, 157 ; in the War of 

1812, 147 ; in Mexican War, 175. 
Secession, 195, 200. 
Seminole War, 156. 
Sevier, John, 125. 
Shafter, General, at Santiago, 249. 
Sheridan, General Philip H., 222, 227, 

228, 230. 
Sherman, General W. T., 221, 222- 

225. 
Sherman, Roger, 102. 
Slavery, 168, 172 ; in the colonies, 38, 

39 ; end of, 202. 
Smith, Captain John, and Pocahontas, 

32 ; picture of, 33. 
Soto, de, his expedition, 14, 15. 
South Carolina, 37 ; secession of, 196. 
Spain, vyar with, 244-252. 
Stamp Act, the, 84-86. 
Standish, Captain Myles, 45, 49. 
Stark, General John, at Bunker Hill, 

99 ; at Trenton, 105 ; at Benning- 
ton, 108. 
Stone Age, 2. 
Stuyvesant, Governor, 58. 



Sumter, Fort, bombardment of, 196. 
Sutter, Captain, 188. ■ 

Taylor, General Zachary, in the Mexi- 
can War, 175. 
Tecumseh, Indian chief, 141-143, 152. 
Teciimseh, the monitor, 212. 
Telegraph, electric, invented, 235-238. 
Telephone, the, 239. 
Tennessee, the, 204, 213, 214. 
Texas, 175. 

Thomas, General George H., 222, 224. 
Tippecanoe, battle of, 142. 
Tobacco, 34, 35. 
Tohopeka, battle of, 154. 
Treaty of peace, 1783, 118. 
Trenton, battle of, 104. 

United States, extent of, 1783, 119 ; 
population of, in 1900, 234. 

Vail, Alfred, aids Morse with the tele- 
graph, 236. 

Valley Forge, 107. 

Vespucius, Americus, 12. 

Vicksburg, captured by Grant, 220. 

Vincennes, capture of, 128-130. 

Vinland. See Wineland. 

Virginia, exploration and settlement 
of, 27-36 ; Indian massacre in, 35; 
harsh laws of, 35 ; negro slavery in, 
38. 

Volunteers, the Northern, 198. 

War of 1812, 143. 

Washington, George, his preparation 
for life, 75-77 ; portrait of, opposite 
title page ; his journey to the French 
forts, 79 ; commander in the French 
and Indian Wars, 80, 81 ; in Brad- 
dock's campaign, 82, 83 ; helps the 
Bostonians, 88 ; commander-in-chief 



260 



INDEX 



of the American army, 97 ; at Cam- 
bridge, 99; retreats from New Yorli, 
104 ; captures British at Trenton, 
104 ; at Valley Forge, 107 ; plots 
against, 109 ; battle of Monmouth, 
110; captures Cornwallis at York- 
town, 117, 118 ; president of Federal 
Convention, 120; President of United 
States, 121. 

Washington, the burning of, 146. 

Wayne, Anthony, his Indian campaign, 
134. 



Webster, Daniel, portrait of, 158 ; his 

greatest oration, 158. 
West, winning of the, 123 ; settlement 

of the, 160. 
Whitney, Eli, 168. 
Williams, Roger, founds Providence, 

53, 54. 
Wineland, discovered by Leif Ericsson, 

5. 
Winslow, Edward, 43, 49. 

Yorktown, capture, 117, 118. 



STUDENT'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

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A SHORT HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

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